University  Studies. 


VOL.  i. 


JULY,  1888. 


A,  ^ 

No- 1 


I.  — On  the  Transparency  of  the  Ether . 


By  DeWITT  B.  BRACE. 


Whether  light  coming  from  the  remotest  members  of  the 
visible  universe  has  not  been  enfeebled  to  a greater  extent 
than  the  variation  of  distance  would  require,  is  still  an  open 
question.  If  there  be  absorption  at  all,  it  must  be  exceed- 
ingly small  through  spaces  comparable  with  the  dimensions 
of  the  solar  system,  in  order  that  the  light  of  these  distant 
bodies  may  be  perceived. 

It  is  proposed  in  the  present  paper  to  investigate  the  phe- 
nomena which  would  occur  if  the  energy  were  absorbed  by 
the  ether  itself  through  frictional  forces  or  imperfect  elastic- 
ity. If  absorption  does  take  place,  there  must  be  a differen- 
tial effect  for  varying  wave-lengths,  if  the  ether  satisfies  the 
equations  of  motion  of  elastic  bodies.  Several  arguments 
have  been  advanced  as  proving  that  such  an  absorption 
takes  place,  of  which  those  of  Cheseaux,  Olbers,  and  Struve 
are  the  most  celebrated.  Considerations  on  other  grounds 
would  seem  to  suggest  such  a conclusion.  Cheseaux  and 
Olbers,  arguing  from  insufficient  data  as  to  stellar  distri- 
bution, have  shown  that  if  the  number  of  stars  is  infinite 
and  distributed  with  anything  like  uniformity  in  space 
there  must  be  absorption  of  light,  as  otherwise  the  sky  would 
appear  all  over  of  a brightness  approaching  that  of  the  sun, 


University  Studies,  Vol.  I.,  No.  1,  July,  1888.  I 


2 


/ 


/ 


De  Witt  B.  Brace , 


since  tlie  brightness  at  any  point  depends  on  the  depth  of  the 


luminous  layer  and  the  solid  &ngle  which  it  subtends  at  that 
point.  I 


The  researches  of  both  Herschel  and  Struve  prove  a non® 
uniformity  of  distribution  in  all  directions,  but  a concentration^^ 
of  stars  toward  the  medial  plane  of  the  Galaxy,  more  marked 


the  smaller  the  magnitude  of  the  star.  Struve,  from  conclu-  f 
sions  based  on  the  supposition  of  an  average  uniformity  of  I 
stellar  distribution  in  layers  parallel  to  this  central  plane,  and 
on  the  assumption  that  the  brightness  is  a measure  of  the 
relative  distance,  attempted  to  prove  that  absorption  must  I 
take  place.  In  fact,  for  a uniform  distribution  the  number  of  ( 
calculated  stars  of  different  magnitude  should  vary  inversely 
as  their  brightness.  Now  the  number  of  calculated  stars  of  ! 
any  magnitude  exceeds  slightly  the  number  observed,  this 
excess  being  greater  with  the  diminution  of  the  magnitude. 
Hence  it  is  concluded  that  absorption  must  take  place  to 
explain  this  increasing  discrepancy,  and  that  there  must  be 
a limit  to  the  space-penetrating  power  of  a telescope  much 
lower  than  the  enfeeblement  of  light  with  the  distance  would 
require.  Later  investigations  regarding  the  constitution  of 
the  visible  universe  show  that  Struve’s  assumptions  were 
false,  and  that  no  law  of  uniformity  in  distribution  or  in 
intrinsic  brightness  can  be  accepted.  While  it  is  at  present 
impossible  to  ascertain  with  much  accuracy  the  real  magni- 
tudes of  the  stars,  there  are  sufficient  data  to  show  that  botl 
their  volume  and  their  intrinsic  brightness,  per  unit  surface 
vary  between  wide  limits.  The  annual  parallax  of  severa 
stars,  as  measured  by  different  observers,  gives  approximate!] 
consistent  results.  A comparison  of  the  brightness  and  dis 
tances  of  these  stars  with  the  intrinsic  brightness  and  dis 
tance  of  the  sun,  as  made  by  Zollner,  shows  that  the  sun’: 
volume  is  but  a small  fraction  of  that  of  these  stars,  suppos 
ing  equal  intrinsic  brightness  per  -unit  of  surface.  Thi: 
method  of  comparison,  when  applied  to  Sirius,  gives  a mucl 
greater  volume  than  other  methods  would  warrant,  thougl 
far  exceeding  that  of  the  sun  in  any  case.  It  must  henc< 


2 


3 


O 


On  the  Transparency  of  the  Ether. 

be  concluded  that  the  intrinsic  brightness  of  a unit  of  its  sur- 
face is  much  greater  than  that  of  the  sun.  The  results  of 
spectrum  analysis  point  to  a wide  variation  in  the  age  and 
temperature  of  different  stars,  some  being  very  much  farther 
advanced  in  the  process  of  cooling  than  others.  It  seems 
certain  from  these  considerations  that  not  only  the  absolute 
size  but  the  intrinsic  brilliancy  vary  within  very  wide  limits, 
some  stars  emitting  several  thousand  times  as  much  light 
as  others. 

The  observations  on  stellar  distribution  indicate  a much 
more  complicated  law  than  the  earlier  observers  supposed. 
The  more  or  less  marked  crowding  together  of  stars  in  cer- 
tain .regions,  with  the  existing  intermediate  voids,  and  the 
only  partial  resolvability  of  these  aggregations,  show  a ten- 
dency to  some  system  of  clustering  in  which  the  various 
orders  of  magnitudes  are  actually  intermingled.  In  certain 
regions  the  more  minute  stars  are  much  more  sparsely  scat- 
tered than  in  others,  while  the  distribution  should  approach 
more  marked  uniformity  with  diminishing  magnitude.  The 
absence  of  vast  numbers  of  stars,  with  excessive  crowding  of 
the  smallest  magnitudes  which  such  a distribution  would 
require,  shows  that  the  telescope  can  penetrate  to  the  bounds 
of  the  system  in  these  regions. 

The  observations  on  the  immense  extent  of  the  orbits  of 
certain  binary  stars  furnish  evidence  that  there  exists  a 
connection  between  certain  stars  which  have  not  heretofore 
been  suspected  as  being  members  of  the  same  system.  The 
fact  that  the  stars  are  gathered  together  in  clusters  princi- 
pally in  or  near  the  Galactic  zone  indicates  that  they  must 
form  a part  of  the  Galaxy,  since  there  is  no  reason  why,  if 
they  were  outside  our  stellar  system,  they  should  not  be  more 
uniformly  distributed  toward  the  poles  of  this  zone.  These 
evidences  of  the  complexity  of  the  laws  of  distribution  in 
magnitude  and  distance  furnish  strong  proof  that  the  present 
stellar  system  is  finite,  and  that  it  does  not  appear  so  from 
the  ultimate  absorption  of  the  light  of  the  remoter  members 
of  an  infinite  system.  Nothing  but  a cosmical  veil  of  vary- 

3 


4 


De  Witt  B.  Brace , 


ing  tenuity  existing  in  interstellar  spaces  and  closing  our  view 
more  or  less  effectually  from  the  infinite  expanses  beyond, 
could  possibly  explain  these  appearances,  — a supposition 
which  is  wholly  unallowable.  If  there  be  absorption  in 
space,  it  must  be  determined  by  other  methods  than  the  one 
by  which  Struve  attempted  to  prove  it. 

If  the  law  of  the  Dissipation  of  Energy  is  absolutely  uni- 
versal, then  it  must  be  allowed  that  no  distortion  of  the  ether 
can  take  place  without  a certain  loss  of  energy  however 
small,  so  that  the  luminiferous  vibrations  would  be  gradually 
frittered  down,  and  after  an  almost  infinite  number  of  such 
distortions  be  dissipated  away  so  as  to  escape  perception. 
On  this  hypothesis,  from  analogy  with  all  known  phenomena 
connected  with  ponderable  bodies  under  similar  conditions,  a 
differential  effect  should  be  produced  for  different  periods  of 
vibrations,  which  would  give  a perceptible  coloration  in  dis- 
tant stars. 

If  an  excessively  diffused  material  substance  be  supposed 
scattered  through  space  in  a gaseous  state,  such  a body  could 
only  absorb  selectively  through  its  atoms,  its  molecules  being 
too  widely  scattered  to  allow  of  any  transformation  of  energy 
into  molecular  friction.  Hence  the  only  loss,  other  than  by 
selective  absorption,  would  be  in  the  ether  itself.  The  ab- 
sorption would  then  take  place  according  to  the  same  laws 
which  determine  it  when  such  a substance  is  not  present. 

In  a medium  in  which  there  were  dissipative  forces  propor- 
tional to  the  rate  of  distortion,  there  would  be  a relative 
change  in  the  velocity  of  propagation  of  transverse  vibrations 
of  different  periods  which,  for  sufficiently  great  distances, 
might  be  detected  in  the  coloration  produced  by  any  sudden 
outburst  or  extinction  of  starlight.  If  the  absorption  were 
small,  such  a difference  in  the  velocities  of  different  rays 
would  be  exceedingly  small,  even  for  distances  comparable 
with  the  greatest  dimensions  of  the  stellar  system,  so  that  the 
coloration  could  only  last  for  a very  short  time. 

The  luminiferous  medium  bears  a close  analogy  to  the 
ponderable  substances  of  nature  in  respect  to  its  rigidity  for 

4 


On  the  Transparency  of  the  Ether. 


5 


high  rates  of  distortion  and  its  apparently  perfect  fluidity  for 
motions  of  distortion  of  low  rates.  JTe  existence  of  such 
apparently  incompatible  qualities  does  not  seem  so  difficult 
to  understand,  when  a material  substance  subjected  to  rates 
of  distortion  of  far  less  range  than  the  extreme  limits  at  which 
these  two  qualities  are  observed  to  exist  in  the  case  of  the 
ether  appears  in  the  one  case  like  a rigid  solid,  and  in  the 
other  like  a very  mobile  fluid. 

Maxwell  found  that,  by  rotating  a cylinder  rapidly  in  a 
liquid  and  passing  a ray  of  polarized  light  close  to  its  surface, 
the  plane  of  polarization  was  altered,  proving  clearly  a state 
of  strain  for  ordinary  liquids  when  the  rate  of  distortion  is 
sufficently  high.  Sir  William  Thomson  has  also  shown  how 
wax  or  pitch  may,  in  the  one  'case,  vibrate  like  ordinary 
solids,  and,  in  the  other,  allow  bodies  to  pass  very  slowly 
through  them  without  appreciable  resistance.  The  luminif- 
erous medium  presents  similar  phenomena.  For  periods  of 
vibration  comparable  with  those  of  light,  it  acts  like  a very 
elastic  solid.  For  low  rates  of  distortion  like  those  which 
the  motions  of  the  planets  and  comets  as -well  as  those  which 
the  molecules  of  a gas  produce,  there  is  no  sensible  resistance, 
and  the  medium  seems  to  act  like  a perfect  fluid.  That  this 
resistance  is  exceedingly  small  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the 
comets,  which  are  in  general  of  extreme  tenuity,  give  no 
definite  indications  of  a resisting  medium  in  space. 

While  the  properties  of  the  ethereal  medium  manifestly 
transcend  those  of  ordinary  matter,  yet  it  seems  to  fulfil,  in 
the  qualities  of  elasticity  and  fluidity,  the  conditions  o& 
natural  bodies.  Very  strong  analogy  to  the  ether  is  furnished 
by  viscous  substances,  and  these  substances  always  dissipate 
more  or  less  rapidly  any  vibrations  to  which  they  are  sub- 
jected, proportionally  to  the  rate  of  distortion,  — at  least 
for  small  rates.  If  the  ether  has  a corpuscular  structure, — 
and  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  absorption  otherwise,  — and 
the  analogy  in  respect  to  viscosity  is  extended  to  it,  as  well 
as  the  analogy  in  respect  to  its  elasticity  and  fluidity,  there 
should  be  a loss  or  transformation  of  radiant  energy. 

5 


6 


De  Witt  B.  Brace , 


Loss  of  energy  may  also  take  place  in  other  ways  depend- 
ing on  imperfect  elasticity  alone,  or  the  loss  may  arise  both 
from  viscous  forces  and  from  imperfect  elasticity.  In  the 
one  case  we  have  the  stress  varying  with  the  rate  of  distor- 
tion, and  in  the  other,  with  the  duration  and  magnitude  of 
the  strain.  The  existence  of  either  will  give  a differential  effect 
for  the  absorption  of  different  rays. 

Suppose  that  absorption  does  take  place,  the  amplitude  of 
a periodic  motion  would  be  some  function  of  the  distance, 
wave-length  or  period,  and  of  the  viscosity  and  imperfect 
elasticity.  Let  it  be  required  to  find  the  form  of  the  function 
for  parallel  rays  of  light,  propagated  in  the  direction  of  the 
j/-axis  and  with  a displacement  f parallel  to  the  4r-axis. 

Let 

i = Ae-^F(y,\, (i) 

where  Ae~&*  represents  a periodic  motion  at  the  origin,  of 
amplitude  A,  and  p the  coefficient  of  viscosity.  When  dissi- 
pative forces  proportional  to  the  relative  velocities  are  present, 
the  form  of  the  function  F is  readily  obtained.  If  the  ether 
is  perfectly  elastic,  the  equation  of  motion  for  parallel  rays  is 


2|  32£ 

» — - = n — 
dt2  dy~ 


O) 


where  p is  the  density  and  n the  rigidity  of  the  ether.  Now 
Stokes  has  shown  in  his  celebrated  paper  “On  the  Friction 
of  Fluids  in  Motion”1  that  the  expressions  for  the  stresses 
*in  an  isotropic  solid  may  be  obtained  directly  from  those 
found  for  the  case  of  a viscous  fluid  in  motion  by  merely 
substituting  the  displacements  f,  rj,  f for  the  velocities  u,  v,  w, 
and  the  rigidity  n for  the  coefficient  of  viscosity  p.  In  the 
case  under  consideration,  we  have  not  only  the  rigidity  n , but 
a viscous  coefficient  p,  each  of  which  produces  a shearing 
stress  independently,  so  that  the  resulting  stress  will  be  the 
sum  of  the  two,  and  the  equation  of  motion  becomes 


1 Collected  Papers,  Vol.  I. 

6 


On  the  Transparency  of  the  Ether. 


7 


or,  since 


dfp 

df 


n (-  ix 

^,2  1 ^ 


d2u  t 
df’ 


(3) 


c^_  d2f  d3j 

^ dt2  dy2  ^ dtdy2 


The  left-hand  side  represents  the  force  of  acceleration  per 
unit  of  volume  ; the  first  term  of  the  right-hand  side  expresses 
the  force  arising  from  the  distortion  of  the  surrounding  ether, 
and  the  second  term  the  dissipative  force  arising  from  the 
rate  of  distortion.  A particular  solution  of  this  equation  is 

£ = (4) 

Substituting  in  equation  (3),  we  have 


— pp2  = n/32  — ipp/32. 


(5) 


Since  we  are  dealing  with  simple  periodic  motions,  p must 
be  real,  and  /3  must  therefore  be  complex. 

Let 

(3  = — K + iy,  (6) 

p 

where  y = -•  Substituting  in  (5),  and  separating  the  real 
and  the  imaginary  terms,  we  have 


whence 


0 = pp2  + M<2  — ny2  — 2 ppu<y, 
0=2  nKy  -f-  Pplk2  — pfiy2 ; 


y2~  k2 


p2a2 

a*+p2^ 


Ky 


psv 

a*+p2v2' 


(7) 

(8) 


where  v = -,  is  the  kinematic  coefficient  of  viscosity.  Now 

Ky  cannot  be  a large  quantity,  since  the  light  of  stars  at  a 
very  great  distance  y reaches  us ; hence  k , and  consequently 


7 


8 


DeWitt  B.  Brace , 


v , must  be  very  small, 
tities,  we  have 


Neglecting  squares  of  small  quan- 


P 

y=a' 

_ p2v  _ 2 7 r2v 
2 a3  a\2  ’ 


(9) 


putting  for  p its  value 

2 7 r 2 7 r<2 

T X 


A very  small  change  in  the  velocity  may  produce  an  ap- 
preciable retardation  of  different  rays  for  very  great  distances. 
Expressing  7 to  the  next  order  of  approximation,  we  have  on 
expanding 


2 P 2 

^=?-3K’ 


neglecting  small  quantities  of  higher  orders  than  k2.  Since 
a;  is  a very  small  quantity,  we  may  put 

K = — , 

y 

where  y is  a large  quantity,  and  w has  different  but  not  large 
values.  Putting 

y — VP  = at, 

and  substituting,  we  have 


This  shows  that  the  relative  retardation  of  the  different 
rays  due  to  viscosity  is  too  small  to  be  observed,  even  when 
the  time  t , necessary  for  light  from  the  most  distant  visible 
object  to  reach  us,  is  very  great. 

8 


On  the  Transparency  of  the  Ether, 


9 


Substituting  now  in  (4), 


£ = Ae 


or,  omitting  the  imaginary  part, 

£ = Ae  aKZ  y cos — ptj  = Ae  aK*  cos 2 7r  ^ — *\  (n) 

znzv  + -t 

Thus  E=e  aK2  a approximately.  (12) 

Stokes 1 has  advanced  the  view  that  a fluid  may  be  an  ex- 
tremely plastic  body  which  admits  of  “a  finite,  but  exceed- 
ingly small  amount  of  constraint  before  it  is  relieved  from  its 
state  of  tension  by  its  molecules  assuming  new  positions  of 
equilibrium.”  He  suggests  that  the  ether  may  be  like  a very 
plastic  substance,  which  allows  of  the  free  motions  of  solids 
through  it,  but  which  also  admits  of  small  amounts  of  con- 
straint without  permanent  distortion.  He  instances2  as  an 
illustration  a mixture  of  jelly  and  water  in  varying  propor- 
tions, which  will  admit  of  a given  amount  of  constraint  with- 
out dislocation,  this  constraint  being  less  and  less  as  the 
mixture  is  made  thinner.  Now  all  solid  bodies  in  nature 
seem  to  possess  to  a degree  more  or  less  marked  the  quality 
of  “Elastic  After-effect,”  as  observed  by  Weber,  Kohlrausch, 
and  others,  where  the  elastic  recovery,  as  well  as  the  stress 
produced  by  any  strain,  depends  on  the  time.  Extending 
this  quality  to  the  ether  on  the  supposition  that  it  is  an  ex- 
tremely plastic  body  and  should  possess  the  same  kind  of 
qualities  as  other  plastic  substances,  it  would  seem  that  a loss 
of  energy  could  take  place  from  this  cause.  In  this  case  F 
will  have  a somewhat  different  form  from  (12). 

Suppose  that  the  stress  at  any  time  is  independent  of  the  rate 
of  shear,  but  depends  on  the  duration  and  magnitude  of  the 
strain,  as  it  would  if  the  “ Elastic  After-effect  ” were  present. 

1 Collected  Papers,  Vol.  I.,  page  125. 

2 Collected  Papers,  Vol.  II.,  page  12. 

9 


IO 


DeWitt  B.  Brace 9 


The  exact  expression  for  this  effect  would  be  complicated, 
depending  as  it  does  on  previous  strains.  But  for  a succes- 
sion of  waves  of  given  period,  the  change  in  the  stress  would 
evidently  be,  on  the  whole,  proportional  to  the  distortion  and 
the  time,  when  the  distortion  did  not  vary  greatly  and  the 
time  was  very  small. 

Since  the  duration  of  the  shortest  waves  in  the  visible 
spectrum  is  very  small  and  about  half  that  of  the  longest 
waves,  and  since  the  relative  distortion  does  not  vary  greatly 
for  the  vibrations  of  different  rays  in  a normal  spectrum,  the 
mean  relative  diminution  in  the  stress,  and  hence  the  relative 
diminution  in  the  amplitude,  may  be  taken  proportional  to  the 
relative  distortion,  and  to  the  duration  of  a wave  period, 
directly.  The  distortion  at  any  time  is  proportional  to  the 
displacement  directly,  and  to  the  wave-length  inversely. 

, Hence  the  change  in  the  displacement  which  takes  place 
during  any  short  time  At,  or  in  passing  over  a space  Ay,  is 


where  a is  the  velocity  of  propagation  and  a is  approximately 
constant  over  wide  ranges  in  the  distortion.  After  passing 
over  a distance  y — n Ay,  the  displacement  would  be 


a 


since  is  a very  small  quantity,  and  its  square  and  higher 


powers  may  be  neglected.  Hence,  since  the  motion  is  a 
periodic  function  of  the  time  and  distance, 


(14) 


Hence,  in  this  case, 


nearly. 


(i5) 


10 


On  the  Transparency  of  the  Ether.  1 1* 

In  the  actual  case  of  solid  bodies,  the  decay  of  a vibration 
does  not  seem  to  follow  either  equation  (14)  or  equation  (12). 
Sir  William  Thompson  found  that  the  relative  diminution  in 
the  amplitude  of  vibrating  wires  of  different  periods  was  less 
than  it  would  be  if  it  were  due  to  viscosity  alone,  and  greater 
than  it  would  be  if  due  to  imperfect  elasticity  or  the  Elastic 
After-effect  alone.  However,  the  diminution  was  more  rapid 
for  short  periods  than  for  long  ones,  indicating  a dependence 
on  the  rate  of  shear,  as  well  as  on  imperfect  elasticity.  The 
law  of  decay,  if  due  to  both  these  causes,  would  be  expressed 
by  the  equation 

01  02  \ 

aK  + aK2)y  COS  2 IT  (l- 

where  61  and  02  are  unknown,  but  may  be  determined  by 
experiment  for  different  substances  subjected  to  different 
rates  of  distortion.  The  three  formulae 


Ae 


-( 


I. 

II. 

III. 


£ = Ae 


a\2 


COS  2 7 r 


i=Ae  ^^cos  2tt  ^ 


indicate  the  absorption  as  depending  on  the  wave-length.  If 
absorption  takes  place  in  the  ether  in  a way  analogous  to  that 
in  ponderable  substances,  it  must  follow  one  of  these  laws, 
which  include  all  modes  of  absorption  for  ordinary  bodies, 
and  hence  coloration  should  occur  in  varying  amounts  with 
the  distance.  The  equation  II.  represents  the  case  of  mini- 
mum coloration. 

From  what  is  known  of  the  decay  of  vibrations  in  material 
bodies,  it  seems  most  probable  that  the  conditions  of  the 
problem  are  most  nearly  satisfied  by  I.  When  the  rate  of 
distortion  in  solid  bodies  is  considerable,  the  viscous  resist- 


1 


12 


De  Witt  B.  Brace , 


ance  seems  to  increase  less  and  less  rapidly  with  the  rate  of 
shear.  When  this  rate  is  diminished,  the  law  of  viscous 
resistance  seems  to  become  more  and  more  nearly  propor- 
tional to  the  rate.  When  the  rate  of  distortion  is  very  small, 
it  is  directly  proportional  to  it.  In  III.,  then,  the  smaller 
the  rate,  the  larger  02  becomes  relatively  to  6h  until  finally  the 
term  containing  6l  may  be  neglected.  Somewhat  similar 
considerations  show  that,  if  absorption  depends  on  the  rate, 
as  in  natural  bodies,  the  proportional  law  for  viscous  resist- 
ance must  hold  in  the  solution  of  our  present  problem.  In 
solids,  the  viscous  resistance  to  finite  rates  of  shearing  is 
finite,  and  hence,  for  very  small  rates,  the  viscous  resistance 
must  also  be  very  small.  For  luminous  vibrations,  the  rate 
of  distortion  must  be  very  great,  in  any  case,  to  be  percepti- 
ble. Further,  the  range  over  which  this  rate  extends  must 
be  excessively  wide,  since,  applying  the  law  of  the  inverse 
distance  for  the  amplitude  to  the  remotest  visible  stars  whose 
light  occupies  several  thousand  years  in  reaching  us,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  amplitude  must  be  diminished  many  million 
times.  If  A is  the  original  amplitude, 

*=-«-**  (17) 

.y 

is  the  amplitude  of  a spherical  wave  at  a distance  y from  the 

origin,  if  absorption  is  present ; — is  the  amplitude  if  it  is 

not  present.  As  y is  always  large,  even  for  the  nearest  stars, 
k must  evidently  be  small,  in  order  that  their  light  may  be 
sensible.  Since,  for  the  greater  amplitudes  or  higher  ^ates  of 
distortion,  the  viscous  resistance  of  ether  must  be  small ; for 
the  lower  rates  of  distortion,  the  viscous  resistance  must  be 
very  small  stresses  proportional  to  the  rate  of  shear  and  sub- 
ject to  the  principle  of  superposition,  which  has  been  assumed 
in  deriving  I.  As  a ray  of  light  from  such  a star  is  dimin- 
ished to  a small  fraction  of  its  original  amplitude  before  pass- 
ing over  a considerable  portion  of  its  path,  it  may  be  consid- 
ered as  following  this  law  approximately.  If  this  law  were 

12 


On  the  Transparency  of  the  Ether.  * 13 

not  followed  until  a further  diminution  in  amplitude,  the  rela- 
tive coloration  between  the  nearer  and  remoter  stars,  depend- 
ing on  the  distance,  would  only  be  the  more  marked,  since 
the  differential  effect  would  be  less  for  the  nearer  than  for  the 
remoter  stars. 

As  the  light  must  pass  through  our  own  atmosphere,  a 
further  absorption  must  take  place,  which  also  varies  with 
the  wave-length.  It  will  be  necessary  to  include  this  effect 
in  the  relative  coloration  to  determine  what  the  resultant 
appearance  would  be. 

Let 

£ __  ^e-[>K*b'+<KA)/]  (18) 

represent  the  law  of  absorption,  where  ^(X)y  corresponds 
to  the  exponents  in  I.,  II.,  III.,  and  is  the  corre- 

sponding exponent  for  atmospheric  absorption  through  any 
thickness  y' . As  both  i/r  and  <f>  are  approximately  indepen- 
dent of  the  amplitude,  they  are  interchangeable  as  regards 
sequence  in  absorption,  and  we  may  suppose  the  atmospheric 
absorption  to  have  taken  place  first..  Hence  in  every  case,  we 
can  leave  out  of  consideration  this  effect  and  simply  apply 
I.,  II.,  and  III.  to  spectra  as  they  are  seen,  to  determine 
the  relative  coloration  produced  by  absorption  in  space  alone. 

We  have  now  to  apply  I.,  II.,  and  III.  to  a normal  spectrum 
to  determine  the  amount  of  energy  absorbed  when  coloration 
is  perceptible.  In  plate  I.,  the  curve  A 2 represents  approxi- 
mately the  distribution  of  energy  in  the  visible  portion  of  the 
normal  solar  spectrum  for  different  wave-lengths  at  high  sun, 
according  to  Langley.1  The  effect  of  space-absorption  on  the 
solar  spectrum  would  be  inappreciable.  Let  now  such  a 
spectrum  be  carried  to  a very  great  distance ; suppose  the 
rays  parallel,  and  absorption  present.  The  loss  of  energy  can 
be  represented  graphically  by  plotting  curves  with  values 
obtained  from  I.,  II.,  and  III.  The  intensity  is  proportional 
to  the  square  of  the  amplitude  or  in  I.  and  II.  to 

1 Researches  on  Solar  Heat,  Plate  I.  Prof,  papers  of  U.  S.  S.  S.,  No.  XV. 


13 


14 


De  Witt  B.  Brace , 


I a. 

£1  ==  A2  e 

11  a. 

Curve  I1  represents  the  distribution  of  energy  according  to 
I a.  after  the  amplitude  of  a wave  corresponding  to  .80  in  the 
diagram  has  been  diminished  .01  of  its  original  value.  Curve 
I2  and  II2  represent  this  distribution  according  to  I a.  and 
II a.  respectively  after  a diminution  in  amplitude  of  .16  of  its 
original  value  for  the  same  wave.  The  law  representing 
absorption  according  to  III.  would  be  a curve  between  these 
two.  The  curve  A ? represents  what  the  normal  distribution 
would  be  if  no  energy  had  been  absorbed  and  the  amplitude 
had  been  uniformly  diminished  by  .10.  From  these  curves  we 
are  able  to  determine  the  proportion  of  the  rays  lacking  in  the 
different  parts  of  the  spectrum  which  would  when  added  give 
the  original  spectrum.  Thus  from  11  of  the  red  rays  about 
.006  are  lacking  ; of  the  orange  and  yellow,  about  .020  ; of  the 
green,  nearly  .030  ; and  of  the  violet,  about  .050.  In  the  same 
way  for  curve  I2,  about  .06  of  the  red  rays  would  be  lacking, 
.15  of  the  yellow,  .20  of  the  green,  and  about  .50  of  the  violet. 
If  the  law  of  absorption  is  according  to  curve  II2,  about  .03  of 
the  red  would  have  been  absorbed  to  .06  of  the  yellow,  nearly 
.10  of  the  green,  and  nearly  .40  of  the  extreme  violet.  It  is 
thus  evident  that  the  greater  the  absorption,  the  redder  the 
spectrum  will  appear. 

Aubert  has  shown  that  less  than  one  per  cent  of  red  mixed 
with  white  is  perceptible.  For  sufficient  intensity,  curve  I1 
would  be  within  this  limit,  so  that  a hue  near  the  orange-red 
would  be  perceptible.  Either  I2  or  1 12  would  evidently  give 
a very  perceptible  reddish  tinge.  Thus  from  the  hue  it  is 
possible,  for  a given  intensity,  to  determine  the  total  loss  in 
intensity  and  the  diminution  in  amplitude.  In  the  curve  Ij 
the  amplitude  of  the  yellow  rays  has  been  diminished  from 
two  to  three  per  cent.  In  curves  I2  and  II2  the  diminution  has 
been  about  twenty  per  cent  and  fifteen  per  cent  respectively. 

14 


On  the  Transparency  of  the  Ether. 


15 


In  the  case  of  the  heavenly  bodies  there  should  then  be  a 
coloration,  becoming  more  marked  with  the  distance,  this  col- 
oration also  depending  in  part  on  the  intensity.  No  regular 
gradation  in  hue  is  perceptible,  and  hence  it  may  be  concluded 
that  the  loss  of  energy  is  small,  if  any.  From  what  is  known 
of  the  spectra  of  incandescent  bodies,  the  effect  of  increase  of 
temperature  is  to  displace  slightly  the  position  of  maximum 
energy  up  the  spectrum.  Any  irregular  distribution  of  stars 
as  regards  temperature  would  not  cause  the  average  light  of 
a certain  number  in  one  part  of  the  heavens  to  differ  materi- 
ally from  that  of  another  number  taken  anywhere  else  in  the 
heavens.  To  carry  the  test  for  absorption  to  the  utmost 
limit  possible,  we  have  only  to  consider  those  milky  patches 
of  light  visible  to  the  eye  in  the  Galaxy ; or,  better,  those  star 
clusters  which  are  barely  resolvable  with  the  best  telescopes ; 
or,  going  still  further,  to  consider  those  nebulae  whose  spectra 
resemble  the  stellar  spectra,  and  which  consequently  are 
probably  resolvable  into  stars.  From  the  vast  number  of 
stars  which  must  constitute  such  a stellar  mass,  it  may  be 
concluded  that  if  there  were  no  absorption,  the  light  with 
which  such  a mass  would  shine  would  be  white.  In  travers- 
ing such  vast  distances,  the  absorption  must  be  infinitesimal, 
not  to  produce  a perceptible  coloration.  The  general  absence 
of  gradation  in  color,  even  in  the  remotest  visible  bodies, 
shows  that  but  a small  per  cent  of  their  light  can  have  been 
lost  in  space.  This  shows  that  e~2Ky  cannot  differ  from  unity 
by  more  than  a small  quantity.  Hence  ny  will  in  general  be 


less  than  unity,  and  k will  not  be  greater  than  -,  which  for  the 

' y 

distances  we  have  been  considering,  is  excessively  small. 
Referring  to  equation  (10),  we  see  that  w is  nearly  unity,  and 
hence  the  difference  in  time  of  propagation  is  a very  small 
quantity,  even  for  the  remotest  visible  bodies. 

Taking  now  our  complete  equation  as  it  would  be  for  plane 
polarized  light  propagated  in  spherical  waves,  we  have  for  the 
intensity  at  any  point 


e 


= A2 


er2Ky  ■ 


09) 


5 


6 


DeWitt  B.  Brace. 


Thus  the  variation  in  intensity  with  distance  becomes 


e-2  *y 


/ 


approximately, 


(20) 


when  y is  taken  as  the  dimension  of  the  visible  universe. 
In  order  that  the  effect  of  absorption  might  equal  that  due 
to  the  variation  in  distance,  we  should  have  to  take  a distance 
ny,  such  that 


or 


(21) 


if  the  diminution  in  amplitude  from  absorption  were  ten  per 
cent  for  a distance  y.  Thus  n would  have  to  be  very  great, 
and  the  system  would  be  of  dimensions  n times  as  great  as 
those  of  our  own  stellar  system.  To  a close  approximation, 
the  system  should  have  the  same  appearance  whether  absorp- 
tion were  present  or  not.  The  apparent  finiteness  of  the 
stellar  universe  cannot  thus  be  due  to  absorption,  as  Struve 
supposed,  his  assumption  of  uniform  distribution  requiring  a 
loss  of  as  much  as  one-third  the  light  of  stars  of  the  ninth 
magnitude. 


Either,  then,  the  universe  must  be  finite,  or,  if  infinite  in 
extent,  the  average  density  of  distribution  of  self-luminous 
bodies  outside  our  own  system  must  be  exceedingly  small,  as 
otherwise  the  sky  would  appear  of  a uniform  brightness, 
approximating  that  of  the  sun. 


16 


700- 


II. — On  the  Propriety  of  Retaining  the  Eighth 
Verb-Class  in  Sanskrit. 

By  A.  H.  EDGREN. 

Doubts  concerning  the  propriety  of . retaining  the  Hindu 
classification  of  the  so-called  tan-verbs  in  a special  conjuga- 
tion date  as  far  back  as  Bopp.  The  first,  however,  to  devote 
to  the  subject  a careful  investigation  was  Brugman  in  his 
article  Die  achte  conjugations-classe  des  altindischen  und  Hire 
entsprechung  im  griechischen  (Kuhn’s  Zeitschr.  XXIV.),  where 
he  tried  to  prove  — except  for  kar — the  identity  of  the  tan 
(VIII.)  and  sn-  (V.)  classes,  on  principles  of  which  I shall  speak 
later.  He  was  followed  by  a Belgian  savant,  Professor  Van  den 
Gheyn,  who  also  tried  to  establish  the  same  identity,  but  on 
principles  wholly  different  in  nature  from  those  adopted  by 
Brugman.  Having  myself,  for  the  preparation  of  my  brief 
Sanskrit  grammar  (Triibner,  1884),  made  an  independent  in- 
vestigation of  this  subject  of  the  tan-verbs,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  any  similar  work  classified  them  with  the  su-ve rbs 
as  forming  with  these  one  class  with  the  present-sign  -no, 
I put  my  notes  together  in  a brief  paper  (‘  On  the  verbs 
of  the  so-called  tan- class  in  Sanskrit  ’),  which  I presented  at 
the  meeting  of  the  American  Oriental  Society  in  May,  1885, 
and  which  was  subsequently  reported  in  the  proceedings  of 
that  society.  My  short  remarks,  in  which  I took  issue  espe- 
cially with  Van  den  Gheyn,  called  forth  from  him,  as  a reply, 
a special  paper  in  Bulletins  de  V Acade'mie  royale  de  Belgique 
(XL,  1886),  in  which  he  tried  to  refute,  with  all  fairness  and 
courtesy,  the  arguments  adduced  by  myself,  in  so  far  as  they 
differed  from  his  own,  and  to  reaffirm  the  position  he  had 
already  taken. 


17 


2 


A.  H.  Edgren , 


However  improbable  I judged  Van  den  Gheyn’s  mode  of 
explanation,  I was  satisfied  to  dismiss  the  question  for  the 
time  being.  Byt  as  no  agreement  is  yet  reached  with  regard 
to  the  treatment  of  the  tan-ve rbs,  — some,  as  especially 
Sanskrit  grammarians,  adhering  to  the  Hindu  classification, 
while  others  disagree  concerning  the  principle  on  which  the 
Eighth  class  should  be  given  up,  — it  has  seemed  that  an 
amplified  review  of  my  own  arguments  may  not  be  useless  as 
a contribution  towards  a definite  settlement  of  the  disputed 
question. 

The  root-verbs  of  the  Sanskrit  language  are  by  Hindu 
grammarians,  as  is  well  known,  classified,  according  to  the 
various  forms  of  their  present-stems,  into  ten  groups  or  con- 
jugational  classes,  which  are  designated  by  the  root  heading 
each  group  in  the  native  lists.  The  present-stems  of  the 
su  and  the  tan- class  ( i.e . of  classes  Fifth  and  Eighth)  are 
said  to  be  formed  respectively  by  adding  to  the  root  the 
suffixes  -nu  ( su-nu -)  and  -u  (< tan-u -),  which  are  gunated  in 
strong  forms. 

The  Hindu  system  of  classification,  and  along  with  it  the 
distinction  made  between  the  ^-class  and  the  tan- class,  was 
naturally  enough  adopted  in  the  earlier  grammars  published 
in  Europe.  Bopp,  however,  who  did  not  fail  to  notice  that 
all  the  roots  of  the  tan- class  — kar  alone  excepted  — termi- 
nate in  -77,  doubted  the  propriety  of  separating  in  principle 
the  to-class  from  the  su- class,  and  suggested  that  the  tense- 
sign  for  both  the  classes  was  originally  -777/,  and  that  this  sign 
in  the  ^77-class  then  lost  its  initial  nasal  after  the  nasal  of 
the  root.  Yet  his  doubts  did  not  lead  him  to  deviate  in  his 
own  grammar  from  the  Hindu  classification.  Benfey,  like- 
wise, was  inclined  to  combine  the  two  classes  into  one,  and 
suggested,  though,  like  Bopp,  without  special  investigation  of 
the  subject,  or  practical  application  of  the  principle,  that  the 
nasal  of  the  tan-verbs  may  in  fact  have  been  artificially  trans- 
ferred to  them  from  the  suffix. 

Such  suggestions,  however,  as  were  made  by  Bopp  and 
Benfey  were  generally  left  unheeded  by  later  grammarians  as 

18 


3 


On  the  Eighth  Verb-Class  in  Sanskrit. 

resting  on  no  proofs ; and  the  Hindu  system  was  reproduced 
by  them,  either  absolutely  (as  by  Muller,  Williams,  Wester- 
gaard,  Kielhorn,  etc.),  or  modified  in  such  a way  that  the  tan- 
class,  always  with  the  suffix  -u,  was  arranged  as  a sub-class 
under  the  .sw-class  (by  Whitney  and  Harlez). 

It  is  really  outside  of  the  pale  of  the  Sanskrit  grammarians 
that  some  attempts  have  been  made  to  pro$e  by  the  facts  of 
the  language  and  of  comparative  philology  the  identity,  in 
the  main  at  least,  of  the  two  classes  in  question.  Brugman 
in  his  above-named  article,  Die  achte  conjugations-classe  des 
altindischen  etc.,  assumes  without  farther  argument,  and  as  a 
generally  admitted  fact,  that  the  tan-ve rbs  terminating  in  - n 
have  received  that  nasal  by  artificial  transfer  from  the  suffix, 
and  turns  the  force  of  his  argument  on  the  verbs  in  -an,  which 
he  considers  as  forming  their  present  system  by  the  suffix  -no 
{nil),  before  which  an  is  weakened  to  a (through  n),  according 
to  his  well-known  theory  of  a nasal  vowel.  As  for  kar,  he 
refers  it,  as  irregular,  to  the  second  class  (its  root-formation 
being  yet  discernible  in  kur-vas , kur-mds,  while  karo-mi,  etc., 
are  formed  after  the  analogy  of  kuru-tha{s ),  whose  second  u, 
however,  is  a mere  phonetic  addition,  not  a suffix). 

Quite  a different  theory  was  put  forth  by  Van  den  Gheyn 
in  an  article  on  the  verbs  of  the  Eighth  class,  published  in 
Bulletins  de  V Acade'mie  royale  de  Belgique  (L.,  1880),  and 
further  supported  by  two  new  articles  in  the  same  publication 
(VII.,  1884,  and  XI.,  1886).  Van  den  Gheyn  endeavors  to 
show  in  these  articles  by  the  facts  of  Sanskrit,  and  of  cog- 
nate languages  as  well,  that  the  final  nasal  of  the  tan-verbs  is 
not  original,  but  a later  accretion,  a transfer  from  the  present- 
sign  to  the  root,  and  that  these  verbs  properly  belong  to  the 
Sixth  or  ^-class.  As  for  kar,  he  adopts  the  hypothesis  of 
Harlez,  who  considers  kur  to  be  the  ‘ thbme  principal ’ of  the 
verb  (cf.  kurmi,  epic,  kurvas,  kurmas),  and  attributes  its  later 
changes  to  analogy.  As  already  noticed,  Benfey  had  before 
suggested  the  theory  of  ta  instead  of  taproots,  and  Gustav 
Meyer  had  likewise  pointed  out  the  analogy  of  forms  like 
ta-td : ra-To?,  re-ra-ra,  etc.,  in  support  of  his  hypothesis  that 

19 


4 


A.  H.  Edgren , 


the  original  root  of  these  forms  was  ta , not  tan.  But  Van 
den  Gheyn  was  the  first  to  present  a detailed  argument 
in  favor  of  this  view,  and  may  be  considered  as  its  chief 
advocate. 

The  following  considerations  based,  in  the  main,  on  an 
examination  of  the  inflectional  and  derivative  forms  of  the 
tan-ve rbs  in  Sanskrit,  but  also  on  the  evidence  of  cognate 
forms  in  other  languages,  would  seem  to  confirm,  in  the 
main,  the  position  taken  by  Brugman,  although  its  cor- 
rectness is  not  made  dependent  on  the  theory  of  a nasal 
vowel. 

The  Hindus  classified  with  the  tan- class  ten  verbs,  viz., 
three  in  -rn : arn , gharn , tarn  ; one  in  -in : ksin  ; five  in  -an : 
ksan  (ksan),  tan , man,  van,  san  ; and  one  in  -ar : kar , - — the 
only  one  that  does  not  terminate  in  a nasal.  To  these  have 
been  added,  on  more  or  less  convincing  evidence  from  the 
Sanskrit  literature,  in,  han,  and  tar. 

As  regards  those  three  roots  that  terminate  in  -rn,  the  fol- 
lowing considerations  are  to  be  noticed. 

The  mere  fact  that  the  root  arn  is  said  to  be  inflected 
exactly  like  the  well-authenticated  root  ar  (r),  ■ — both  form- 
ing the  strong  and  weak  stems  rno  and  rnu, — and  that  the 
meaning  assigned  to  each  is  the  same,  suggests  that  the  for- 
mer is  nothing  but  an  artificial  extension  of  the  latter,  having 
no  independent  existence  whatever,  — a suggestion  which  is 
corroborated  by  the  facts  in  the  case.  In  the  first  place,  no 
verb-form  whatever  outside  of  the  present  system  has  been 
made  from  a radical  ant.  Further,  among  all  the  derivatives 
(not  less  than  35)  that  must  be  referred  to  either  of  the  two 
roots  in  question,  only  three,  arnas,  drna,  rnd,  contain  a nasal. 
But  that  nasal  may  here  be  explained  as  belonging  to  the 
suffix.  The  primitive  suffix  -nas,  though  rare,  occurs  beyond 
question  in  some  words  (cf.  dp-nas  ‘possession,’  -bhar-nas 
‘ offering,’  etc.)  formed  precisely  like  ar-nas . A primitive 
suffix  -na  is,  indeed,  hardly  met  with,  except  in  participles. 
But  drna  ‘agitated,’  as  a noun  (m.)  ‘flood,’  if  not  a participle, 
is  too  evidently  of  the  same  stock  with  arnas  ‘ flood  ’ to  be 

20 


5 


On  the  Eighth  Verb-Class  in  Sanskrit. 

separated  from  it  (cf.  apna- : dpnas  ‘ possession/  dravina : 
dravinas  ‘ chattel  ’).  As  for  rna  ‘ debt,’  its  derivation  is  quite 
uncertain,  but  if  we  must  resort  to  ar  or  arn,  nothing  better 
can  be  suggested  tharf  the  participial  form  r-nd  ‘ hurt,  bur- 
dened, in-debted,  (n.)  debt.’  Finally,  not  one  of  the  kindred 
words  in  the  sister-tongues  — and  the  number  of  such  words 
is  quite  considerable — shows  any  trace  of  a root-nasal,  unless, 
indeed,  as  suggested  by  some,  it  be  opvvpu,  whose  v,  however, 
is  much  more  likely  to  belong  to  the  suffix  -vv  (cf.  cop-op-ov, 
etc.). 

As  regards  gharn , which  is  said  to  mean  ‘shine,’  no  verb- 
form  that  could  be  referred  to  such  a root  has  been  met  with 
in  the  extant  literature.  It  might  then  be  left  out  of  consid- 
eration here,  were  it  not  that  a couple  of  nominal  forms, 
ghrnd  ‘heat’  and  ghrni  ‘heat,’  seem  referable  to  the  root 
gharn.  As  the  native  root-lists  give  also  the  root  ghar  (ghr) 

‘ shine,’  as  belonging  to  the  su- class,  it  is  evident,  however, 
that  this  root  is  • the  only  acceptable  form,  and  that  gharn 
sustains  to  ghar  precisely  the  same  relation  as  arn  to  ar 
(ghr-nd,  ghr-ni  being  quite  regular  formations).  This  sup- 
position is  decidedly  favored  by  kindred  words  in  related 
tongues  (cf.  Zend  gar-ema , Gr.  Oep-opicu,  Oep-pur),  6ep-o$,  etc.  ; 
Lat . for-mus,  etc.  .;  Goth,  var-in-jam  ; Slav,  gr-e-ti,  etc.). 

With  reference  to  tarn , said  to  mean  ‘graze,’  it  is,  like 
gharn , entirely  unauthenticated  ; and  as  there  seems  to  be  no 
support  for  the  acceptation  of  any  similar  root  in  any 
other  Indo-Germanic  tongue,  it  may  well  be  considered 
as  wholly  fictitious,  and  invented  to  furnish  an  etymology 
for  the  noun  trna  (trna)  ‘grass.’  This  noun  may  possibly 
be  a participial  form  (parallel  with  trna ) of  tar  in  the  sense 
of  ‘broken  through,’  — viz.  the  soil  (cf.  tirna-padi  name  of  a 
plant). 

We  come  next  to  the  root  ksin  ‘destroy,’  which  has  no 
more  right  to  appear  in  the  root-list  than  arn , above.  Even 
here  we  find  a shorter  and  well-authenticated  root  ksi  ‘de- 
stroy ’ inflected  according  to  the  j&-class  ( ksi-no-mi , etc.).  No 
certain  or  authenticated  example  of  a nasal  is  found  either 

21 


6 


A.  H.  Edgren , 


outside  of  the  present-system1  or  in  derivative  words.  To  be 
sure,  we  have  beside  the  participial  form  ksita  also  ksind 
‘destroyed,’  but  the  latter  is  usually  understood  to  be  one  of 
the  common  participles  in  -na.  The  root  of  the  correspond- 
ing Greek  verb  c^Olvco  ‘perish’  is  which  occurs  every- 

where outside  the  present-system.  Also  ktlvvv/jll  ‘kill’  has 
been  suggested  as  a parallel  form,  and  Curtius  supposes  its 
root  to  be  rcrtv,  a weakened  form  of  ktclv  = Skr.  ksan.  If  the 
words  are  connected,  the  double  nasal  of  ktlvvviu  may,  how- 
ever, be  explained  as  owing  to  a phonetic  doubling  between 
two  vowels,  — a process  that  is.  not  uncommon,  — or  else,  as 
Curtius  suggests,  to  a special  weakening  in  Greek.  And 
even  if  ksin,  in  spite  of  strong  evidence  to  the  contrary,  be 
considered  as  a genuine  root,  its  conjugation  in  analogy  with 
ksan,  of  kindred  form  and  meaning,  would  not  be  any  more 
anomalous  than  the  inflection  of  nominal  zzz-stems  in  analogy 
with  an-stems  ; and  the  present  formation  of  ksan , as  will  be 
shown,  is  not  ksan-o-mi,  but  ksa-no-mi. 

It  is  evident  from  these  facts  that  arn,  gharn,  and  ksin 
are,  in  all  probability,  mere  figments  or  pseudo-roots,  which 
the  Hindu  grammarians  have  foisted  into  their  root-lists  with- 
out any  good  reason,  and  which  consequently  should  be 
cancelled  altogether,  — as,  indeed,  they  are,  very  rationally, 
in  Whitney’s  grammar,  in  the  enumeration  of  the  tan-ve rbs 
(§  713,  and  Root-supplement). 

We  come  next  to  the  five  roots  in  -an:  ksan  ‘destroy,’  tan 
‘stretch,’  man  ‘think,’  van  ‘win,  like,’  san  ‘reach.’  As  their 
nasal  occurs  not  only  in  the  present-system,  but  also,  with 
few  exceptions,  outside  of  that  system  and  in  derivatives,  it 
has  been  considered  both  by  native  and  western  grammarians 
as  pertaining  to  the  radical  forms  underlying  the  whole  con- 
jugation-system of  each  of  the  verbs.  Serious  objections 
having  been  made,  however,  to  this  view  by  a few  scholars,  it 
will  be  necessary,  before  explaining  the  formation  of  the 
present  stems  of  above  verbs,  to  try  to  determine  the  nature 
of  their  nasal. 

1 Brugman  quotes  ksenisydti , for  which  I can  find  no  authority. 

22 


On  the  Eighth  Verb-Class  in  Sanskrit. 


7 


* 


It  is  of  some  importance  here  to  distinguish  between  that 
stage  of  the  Indo-European  language  when  the  radicals  which 
are  now  deduced  by  comparative  analysis  as  those  underlying 
its  formal  and  inflectional  development  were  already  evolved, 
and  a yet  earlier  stage  when  these  radicals  had  not  assumed 
the  form  they  then  had.  There  is,  indeed,  every  reason  to 
believe  that  such  an  evolution  of  roots  from  earlier  germs,  or 
perhaps,  in  some  cases,  from  earlier  polysyllabic  and  com- 
pounded entymons,  took  - place  long  before  the  language 
passed  into  its  inflectional  stage,  and  in  some  instances  we 
may  even  yet  discover  the  probable  or  evident  traces  of  such 
a development.  Thus,  it  seems  probable  enough  that  coup- 
lets or  groups  of  roots  like  i : in  ‘go,’  ci : cit  ‘observe,’  mar 
‘ grind  ’ : warn  ‘ crush  ’ : mai'd  ‘ grind  ’ : march  ‘ hurt,’  etc., 
are  cognates  of  the  same  origin.  If  their  original  germ  is 
actually  represented  by  any  one  of  the  forms  preserved  to 
us,  or  if  it  is  entirely  lost,  cannot  be  decided.  There  are 
some  faint  indications,  indeed,  that  the  shortest  form  may, 
ordinarily,  be  the  most  original,  but  they  are  after  all 
uncertain.1 

Now  it  so  happens  that  for  every  one  of  the  roots  in  -an 
enumerated  above  has  been  suggested  also,  on  more  or  less 
convincing  evidence,  a co-ordinate  radical  lacking  the  nasal 
and  terminating  in  -a  or,  usually,  in  -a.  Thus,  cf.  ksan 
‘hurt’  : *ksa  (in  ksapay-  ‘destroy,’  tuvi-ksa  ‘much  destroy- 
ing,’ etc.),  and,  perhaps,  ksa  ‘burn’; — - tan  ‘stretch’  : ta  (in 
the  pass,  tayate,  and  in  tayate  ‘ stretches  ’) ; — man  ‘ think  ’ : 
(?)  ma  ‘ measure  ’ ; — van  ‘ win,  like  ’ : va  * desire  ’ (in  the  parti- 
ciple vatd  and  the  desid.  vivasati),  va  (only  in  vasimahi) ; — san 
‘ procure  ’ : sa  ‘ procure  ’ (in  sata , sis-asati,  etc.,  and  in  agva-sa 
‘ horse-acquiring,’  etc.),  sa  (only  in  sa-sa-vahs).  It  is  evident 
that  the  assumption  of  <£-roots  finds  a very  meagre  and  doubt- 
ful support  in  these  comparisons  (about  which  later).  But  a 
host  of  forms,  participles  or  derivatives,  with  a radical  in  -a, 

x Cf  H.  Edgren,  “On  the  Verbal  Roots  of  the  Sanskrit  Language  and  the  San- 
skrit Grammarians,”  Journal  of  American  Oriental  Society , XI.,  p.  5,  etc. 

23 


A.  H.  Edgren , 


instead  of  -an  ( ma-ta , ma-ti , ta-td , ta-tva , etc.),  which  are  by 
all  grammarians  and  lexicographers  referred  directly  to  the 
roots  in  -zzzz,  have,  farther,  been  explained  by  a few  investiga- 
tors as  made  from  zz-roots  instead. 

This  apparent  variation  between  -zzzz,  -a,  and  -zz-roots  has 
been  made  use  of  to  prove  that  the  present  tanomi , etc., 
was  made  from  an  zz-root  by  adding  the  suffix  -no  ( ta-no-mi ), 
not,  as  assumed  by  the  grammarians,  from  tan  by  the  suffix 
6 (tan-6-mi),  nor,  as  advocated  by  Brugman,  from  tan  by  the 
suffix  -no,  through  * tn-no-mi,  and  that  the  suffixal  n has  pene- 
trated outside  the  present  system,  or  else  that  the  so-called 
‘ general  tenses  ’ are  formed  from  a root  tan , existing  at  the 
side  of  ta . 

To  this  view  some  grave  objections  may  certainly  be  made. 
Thus  : 

a.  The  root-forms  required  by  the  advocates  of  formations 
like  ta-no-mi , etc.,  are  not  ta , etc.,  but  ta , etc.  There  may, 
indeed,  seem  to  be  some  plausible  reasons  for  accepting  the 
existence  of  the  former  (as  do  Delbriick  and  Brugman),  in  so 
far  as  their  occurrence  in  various  forms  is  not  yet  satisfac- 
torily explained  on  the  basis  of  a phonetical  change  of  tan , 
etc.,  and  as  the  language  after  all  has  quite  a number  of 
zz-roots.  But  there  is  no  very  plausible,  and  yet  less  con- 
vincing, reason  for  assuming  any  roots  in  -zz,  like  ta , etc. 
The  quoted  verb-forms  ksapayati,  vaslmahi , sasavans  are 
nowise  convincing.  Causatives  with  p are  not  satisfactorily 
explained,  and  may  come  from  roots  in  -p  ; vaslmahi , occur- 
ring only  once  (R.  V.  XI.  72),  is  probably  for  vahslmahi  ; and 
sa-sa-vahs,  which  occurs  a few  times  in  different  cases  in  the 
Rig  and  the  Atharva  Veda,  though  hard  to  explain  satisfac- 
torily (Grassmann  and  Delbriick  suggest  that  it  stands  for 
sasanvdhs , and  Saussure  for  sasavans ),  cannot  very  plausibly 
be  derived  from  sa , since  no  perfect-form,  and  in  fact  no 
tense-form  whatever,  of  such  a root  is  found  in  the  language. 
Outside  of  the  above  forms,  where  analogy  would  require  the 
nasal,  if  they  are  to  be  derived  from  roots  in  -n,  the  -a  radical 
hardly  occurs  except  where  analogy  would  require  a weaken- 
ed 


On  the  Eighth  Verb-Class  in  Sanskrit. 


9 


ing  of  the  root,  especially  on  account  of  the  displacement  of 
the  accent,  as  in  verbal  nouns  in  -td  -tva,  -tyia  {ta-ta,  ta-tva , 
ta-tya , etc.),  and  in  nouns  in  -ti  (formed  in  analogy  with 
participles  in  -td). 

In  all  other  cases,  and  they  are  very  numerous,  we  find  the 
full  -^.-radical  ( tdn-a , tan-as , tan-u , tdn-tn , tan-tra , etc.).  It 
seems  evident  that  we  are  here  dealing  with  principles  per- 
fectly parallel  with  those  that  have  produced  such  root- 
variations  as  in  han-ti  : ha-tha  ; hdn-am  : ha-bhis ; rajan-am  : 
raja-bhis  ; ds-ti : s-tha  ; pitar-am  : pitr-su  : pi-tr-n,  pitr-a , and  so 
on ; and  it  would  be  late  in  the  day  now  to  try  to  substitute 
for  the  principle  of  accentual  influence  as  causing  these  vari- 
ations, the  confusing  principle  of  a variety  of  independent 
roots  and  stems. 

b.  Since  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  so-called  ‘ general 
tenses  * are  of  a more  recent  formation  than  those  of  the 
present-system,  there  is  also  no  good  reason  to  assume  that 
the  -tf-roots  have  formed  first  the  latter,  and  then  with  an  un- 
paralleled accretion,  the  others.  We  should  expect  at  any  rate 
to  find  in  the  general  tenses  some  trace  of  an  earlier  -a-root, 
but  there  is  absolutely  none.  As  for  the  assumption  that  the 
whole  conjugation-system  of  the  various  -an-v  erbs  is  consist- 
ently made  up  of  two  independent  roots,  which,  if  existing  at 
all,  must  have  been  distinguished  by  some  shade  of  meaning, 
peculiar  to  each,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  anything  parallel. 
To  be  sure,  sporadic  cases  of  root-mixture  in  the  make-up  of 
verb-systems  occur  in  all  languages,  but  they  are  usually  of  a 
different  kind,  consisting  in  the  often  traceable  supplanting 
of  an  earlier  form  by  one  of  a different  verb  (as  in  French  of 
Ire  by  etais ),  and,  in  all  events,  they  never  take  place  so 
systematically  in  a whole  class  of  verbs. 

c.  If  the  facts  of  the  Sanskrit  language  itself  suggest 
clearly  enough  that  the  nasal  of  the  ta/z-verbs  is  genuine,  the 
evidence  of  cognate  tongues  also  favors  this  view.  To  be 
sure,  we  find  even  in  them  radical  elements  corresponding 
to  these  roots  with  and  without  the  nasal.  Thus,  cf.  Skr. 
■y/ksan:  Gr.  rcT€iv-co,  ktov-os  ; e-icra-Tco,  6-ktcl-v,  KTci-fievo^  \ 

25 


IO 


A.  H.  Edgren , 


Goth,  ska-tkaQ)  ; — Skr.  i /tan.:  Gr.  relv-w,  tl-tcllv-w,  rev-cov ; 
ra-ros,  Te-ra-fca,  e-rdOrjv  ; Lat.  ten-do , ten-eo , ten-ax ; Goth. 
than-jan  ; — Skr.  -[/ man : Gr.  /lev-co,  ixe-fiov-a,  /lev-os  ; fxav-ia\ 
/jbe-fjLa-fjLev,  iie-fjid-TCD  ) Lat . mon-eo ; Goth,  mun-um,  ga-mun-an  ; 
Skr.  -y/van:  d-fd-co,  d-aa-ros  ] Lat.  ven-ia , ven-us,  ven-ustus  ; 
Goth,  vnn-an , vinn-an  ; — Skr.  j/ san : Gr.  ev-w  (Fick,  I.  226), 
avvw,  avco  ; e-ro?  ; Lat.  sinit,  sen-ex ; Goth,  sin-ista , sin-teino ; 
and  so  on.  This  variation,  however,  nowise  favors  the  theory 
of  independent  -an  and  -^-roots.  The  nasal  is  rarely  lacking 
except  in  Greek,  and  its  absence  there  is  frequently  explain- 
able on  precisely  the  same  grounds  as  in  Sanskrit,  viz.,  as 
owing  to  an  original  weakening  of  the  root  : cf.  tata  : ; 

tati  : rao-Ls ; mata  : -/jlcltos  ; satd  : eVo?,  etc.  The  very  fact 
that  cognate  forms  in  other  languages  usually  retain  the  nasal 
where  it  is  lost  in  Sanskrit  or  Greek,  tends  to  show  that  it  is 
original,  having  disappeared  in  Sanskrit  and  Greek  under 
certain  circumstances  which  in  the  cognate  tongues  have 
produced  different  results  : cf.  Skr.  mata  or  mati:  Gr.  yu-aro?  : 
Lat.  menti-y  Goth,  ga-mundi- ; Skr.  menima  (for  *me-m  n-i-ma : 
n preserved  by  the  following  i ) : Gr.  fie/ia/iev : Goth,  munum , 
and  so  on.  Analogy  has  in  all  languages,  as  especially  in 
Greek,  wrought  many  changes,  and  must  account  for  some 
of  the  seemingly  irregular  non-nasal  radicals.  Concerning 
the  Greek  forms,  compare  especially  Brugman’s  article  already 
referred  to  above. 

If,  then,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  Van  den  Gheyn  and 
others,  it  seems  incontestable  that  the  nasal  of  the  roots  ksan , 
tan , many  van , and  san  is  genuine  and  original,  at  least  with 
reference  to  the  time  when  the  inflectional  system  of  the 
Indo-European  language  was  developed,  does  it  necessarily 
follow  that  in  a stem  like  tano -,  the  suffix  must  be  -0  and  not 
-no?  Not  at  all.  The  stem  would  have  precisely  the  same 
appearance  were  we  to  suppose  either,  with  Bopp,  that  the  n 
of  the  original  -^<?-suffix  has  been  dropped,  or  that  the  root 
itself  had  suffered  mutilation  before  such  a suffix.  Let  us 
then  examine  whether  there  are  any  considerations  that  will 
warrant  us  in  accepting  either  of  these  theories,  instead  of 

26 


On  the  Eighth  Verb-Class  in  Sanskrit.  1 1 

abiding  by  the  native  theory  of  two  distinct  tense-signs  for 
the  su  and  the  tan-vz rbs. 

As  regards  Bopp’s  theory,  two  strong  objections  may  be 
urged  against  it.  In  the  first  place,  I do  not  think  there  can 
be  adduced,  in  the  whole  language,  a single  good  instance  of 
the  loss  of  an  initial  nasal,  or  of  any  initial  consonant  what- 
ever of  a suffix  or  an  ending,  whereas  the  disappearance  (no 
matter  here  if  by  direct  loss  or  by  change)  of  the  final  nasal 
of  a root  or  a stem  before  a suffix  consonant  is  a common  and 
well-known  phenomenon  in  Sanskrit.  Witness  examples  such 
as  ta-ta}  ta-tva,  ta-ti , - ta-tya , ha-tha , - ha-bhis , rdja-bhisy  jitva-su, 
bali-bhyas , etc.,  for  *tan-ta>  * tan-tva , etc.  Then,  such  a theory 
completely  ignores  any  influence  on  the  root  on  account  of  the 
accentual  shift  in  tanomi , though  such  an  influence  is  directly 
required  not  only  in  analogy  with  words  of  the  kind  quoted 
above,  but  also  by  the  analogy  of  other  su-verbs  (cf.  star : str- 
no-ti  ; kar  : kr-no-ti). 

And  it  is  precisely  in  consideration  of  this  required  weak- 
ening of  the  root  that  we  are  forced  to  explain  the  formation 
of  tanomi  as  arising  from  a weakening  of  the  unaccented  tan 
to  ta  before  the  accented  suffix  -no.  Whether  we  are  to  con- 
sider this  weakening  as  consisting  simply  in  the  direct  loss 
of  the  final  nasal  of  the  root  or  in  its  vocalization  after  the 
loss  of  the  preceding  #-vowel,  is  immaterial  to  the  argument, 
and  need  not  here  be V^cussed.  It  may  be  said,  en  passant , 
however,  that  the  objections  made  by  Van  den  Gheyn  in  his 
third  paper  against  Brugman’s  ^-theory  are  nowise  convinc- 
ing. It  is  true  that  no  written  language  has  left  a trace  of 
an  zz-vowel ; but  written  languages  never  perfectly  represent 
all  the  sounds  of  the  spoken.  No  modern  language  has  any 
sign  for  either  a liquid  or  a nasal  vowel,  and  yet  such  vowels 
are  often  met  with  (cf.  English  sabre , sable , fatteny  button , 
etc.,  pronounced,  like  sabr,  sabl,  fattn , buttii).  They  may 
have  existed  jus  as  well,  though  imperfectly  represented,  in 
older  dialects,  the  skilful  Hindu  phoneticians  being  the  only 
ones  to  recognize  in  writing  any  of  them  (r  and  l).  Van  den 
Gheyn  also  objects  that  while  the  r-vowel  always  leaves  a 

27 


12 


A.  H.  Edgren , 


trace  of  its  ry  the  ^-vowel  has  entirely  sacrificed  its  nasal  in 
Sanskrit  and  Greek.  Even  here  English  has  a lesson  to 
teach.  Dialectically  the  r-element  of  such  words  as  father , 
mother , arbor , etc.,  is  often  omitted  in  both  America  and 
England  (cf.  Whitney,  Orient,  and  Ling.  Stud.,  II.,  p.  236). 
But  that  means  virtually  that  those  words  often,  instead  of 
being  pronounced  regularly  as  fathr,  mothr , arbry  are  pro- 
nounced as  fatho , motho , arbo  (<?  being  here  used  to  denote 
the  indefinite  z/-sound  in  English).  The  /z-vowel  is  not  then 
alone  in  losing  its  consonantal  element.  As,  however,  the 
theory  of  a nasal  vowel  is  nowise  needed  for  the  acceptance 
of  the  theory  that  tan  is  weakened  to  ta  in  ta-nomi,  I will  not 
insist  any  longer  on  its  merits. 

The  last  of  the  roots  classified  by  the  Hindu  grammarians 
with  the  Eighth  class  is  kar  ( kr ) ‘make.’  It  is  well  known 
that  this  verb  was  regularly  conjugated  according  to  the  Fifth 
class  in  the  older  language  ( kr-no-ti ),  and  also  in  Zend  (kerf* 
nao-ti).  Its  later  conjugation,  however,  is  entirely  anomalous, 
and  has  not  yet  been  satisfactorily  explained.  The  objections 
brought  against  Brugman’s  theory  by  Van  den  Gheyn  in  his 
second  article  seem  to  me,  on  the  whole,  justified.  Unfor- 
tunately, he  offers  nothing  satisfactory  in  its  place.  Possibly 
the  whole  problem  might  find  a solution  in  supposing  that 
the  primitive  language  possessed,  at  the  side  of  kary  also  a 
radical  karu,  from  which  the  latter  (classical)  present-system 
was  made.  In  fact,  a root  krv  ( karv ) is  given  in  the  Dhatu- 
patha,  and  analogous  radicals  in  -v  (-u)  are  not  uncommon  in 
Sanskrit  (cf.  car v,  bharv , turv,  dhurv , raiiv,  dhanv , and  yet 
others).  Probably  these  are  all  denominatives  from  stems 
in  -u.  Denominatives,  to  be  sure,  form  their  present-stems 
in  -a  or  -ayay  but  karu,  existing  at  the  side  of  krnu  (which 
was  the  earlier  and  once  prevailing  stem),  may  easily  have 
come  to  be  conjugated  in  analogy  with  it,  especially  as  their 
suffixal  vowels  coincided.  But  why,  then,  the  change  to 
kur{ii)-  ip  the  weak  forms  ? As  is  well  known,  the  syllable 
ar  often  alternates  with  ury  especially  in  combination  with  a 

28 


On  the  Eighth  Verb-Class  in  Sanskrit. 


13 


labial  (eg.  7/ tar : turyama , tuturyat ; -\/mar : mumurat , -mur, 
murna  ; -y/ par  : pur  ‘fulness,’  pur  ‘ for tress ,’  pur i,  pupiLrantu , 
before  consonants;  -\/ var : vurlta , uranas , vurya ; pita- 
ram  : pitur , etc.).  There  is,  then,  nothing  anomalous  in  assum- 
ing that  Azr,  influenced  by  the  suffixal  & of  the  weak  forms, 
changed  to  kur ; especially  when  we  consider  that  the  root- 
form  kur,  as  indicated  by  the  epic  form  kurmi , had  a ten- 
dency to  establish  itself  at  the  side  of  kar.  The  loss  of  the 
suffixal  -u  in  the  first  persons  ( kur-vas , kur-mas ) accords  so 
well  with  the  usual  formation  of  the  su-ve rbs  (su-n-vas,  su-n- 
mas),  that  it  is  precisely  what  we  should  expect.  It  is  harder 
to  explain  its  loss  in  the  optative  active  ( kur-yam ),  unless, 
indeed,  we  consider  this  tense  as  formed  directly  from  kur> 
like  kurmi , i.e.  as  borrowed  from  the  root-class.  Owing,  no 
doubt,  to  the  frequency  of  its  use,  kar  shows  a great  mixture 
of  forms  (cf.  auxiliaries,  etc.,  in  other  languages).  No  other 
verb  has  a greater  variety  of  stem-forms  : kar-  {kr-),  kara -,  krno- 
( krnu -),  karo -,  kuru -,  kur- ; and  hence  there  is  certainly  no 
necessity  to  expect  its  conjugation  in  the  classical  period  of 
the  language  to  be  of  a homogeneous  nature. 

Having  thus  disposed  of  the  verbs  assigned  to  the  Eighth 
class  by  the  Hindu  grammarians,  little  need  be  said  of  those 
arranged  along  with  them  by  later  discoveries,  viz.  : han , in, 
and  tar.  As  for  han , if  the  form  hanomi , occurring  only  once, 
is  correct,  it  is  subject  to  precisely  the  same  treatment  as 
tart,  and  must  be  removed  with  it  to  the  Fifth  class.  In 
retains  its  nasal  even  outside  of  the  present-system.  If  this 
nasal  is  to  be  considered  as  genuine,  the  conjugation  of  in  in 
analogy  with  roots  in  -an  would  not  be  any  more  anomalous 
than  the  inflection  of  nominal  zVz-stems  in  analogy  with  an- 
stems.  As  for  tar,  we  have  only  the  doubtful  and  anomalous 
form  tarute , occurring  once  in  the  Rig -Veda.  It  is  too  prob- 
lematic to  offer  any  grounds  for  a serious  argument. 

The  result  of  the  preceding  investigation  would  then  be 
that  of  the  thirteen  roots  which  have  been  referred  to  the 

29 


A.  H.  Edgren. 


H 

Eighth  class,  arn,  gharn , tarn , and  ksin  are  to  be  struck  out 
as  fictitious,  and  tar  as  of  wholly  problematic  relation  to  the 
questionable  form  tarute , while  the  remaining  roots  must  be 
referred  to  the  F ifth  class,  — fcsan,  tan , man , van , san,  han , as 
formed  perfectly  regularly  with  the  suffix  but  kar  and  m 
as  conjugated  in  analogy  with  verbs  of  that  class. 

30 


C3 

III. — On  the  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  the  Romance 
Languages. 

By  JOSEPH  A.  FONTAINE. 

Diez  in  his  well-known  “ Grammatik  der  Romanischen 
Sprachen  ” has  treated  the  question  of  the  use  of  the  auxiliary 
verbs  in  the  Romance  languages  only  in  a general  way,  and 
much  must  be  added,  especially  as  concerns  their  history. 
Mr.  Gessner  in  the  Jahrbuch  fur  romanische  und  englische 
Sprache  und  Literatur : neue  Folge , III.  Band , 2.  Heft , has 
made  a very  interesting  but  somewhat  complicated  study  of 
esse,  considered  as  an  auxiliary  verb,  and  has,  moreover,  no- 
ticed important  facts  that  had  escaped  the  attention  of  Diez. 
M.  Camille  Chabanneau  in  his  “ Histoire  et  Theorie  de  la  con- 
jugaison  franqaise  ” has  devoted  to  the  auxiliaries  a few  pages, 
containing  valuable  suggestions  as  to  their  use ; but  as  a 
general  remark  it  may  be  said  that  he  has  treated  this  ques- 
tion too  briefly.  It  may  be  simply  because  a full  treatment 
was  not  directly  included  in  the  plan  of  his  work.  It  may  be 
said  also  that,  in  a certain  way,  M.  Chabanneau  has  explained 
the  use  of  the  auxiliaries  according  to  tendencies  prevailing 
in  modern  French,  and  has  fallen  into  the  error,  common  to 
most  grammarians,  of  trying  to  explain  the  inconsistent  use 
of  the  auxiliaries,  especially  with  the  so-called  neuter  verbs,  in 
accordance  with  modern  usage.  So  far  as  I am  aware,  no  one 
has  yet  tried  to  explain  the  difficult  problem  by  a thorough 
comparison  of  modern  usage  with  that  of  Old  French. 

The  main  idea  of  M.  Chabanneau  is  that  the  auxiliary  is 
nothing  but  the  inflectional  part  of  the  main  verb.  Granting 
this  to  be  true,  such  a suggestion  is  not  an  historical  explana- 
tion, and  does  not  account  fully  for  the  various  and  often  in- 
consistent uses  of  auxiliaries. 

Let  it  be  admitted  that  ai  and  suis  are  merely  inflectional 


University  Studies,  Vol.  I.,  No.  I.,  July,  1888.  3 I 


2 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


parts  of  verbs.  In  “je  suis  venu  ,”  suis  is  considered  as  the 
inflectional  part  indicating  the  person,  the  number,  and  the 
tense  of  venir.  But  why  do  we  use  suis  rather  than  ai,  which 
is  another  inflectional  part  exercising  the  same  function  as 
suis  in  some  other  Romance  languages  ? (Cf.  Sp.  He  venido 
as  equivalent  to  Fr.  Je  sins  venui)  This  is  what  needs 
explanation.  Whether  it  is  possible  to  solve  this  problem  I 
shall  not  presume  to  say,  but  shall  offer  on  this  subject  the 
result  of  my  own  researches. 

My  subject  naturally  falls  under  three  heads,  viz.  : — 

Chapter  I.  — Auxiliaries  used  with  Transitive  Verbs  ; 

Chapter  II.  — Auxiliaries  used  with  Intransitive  Verbs  ; 

Chapter  III.  — Auxiliaries  used  with  Reflexive  Verbs. 


Chapter  I.  — Auxiliaries  used  with  Transitive  Verbs. 

In  comparing  the  conjugational  system  of  the  Romance 
languages,  it  becomes  evident  that  in  the  active  voice  the  use 
of  auxiliaries  is  very  nearly  identical. 

Fr.  J'ai  chante.  Pg.  Hei  cantado  (tenho  cantado). 

It.  Ho  cantato.  Pr.  Ai  cantat. 

< Sp.  He  cantado  {tengo  cantado ) Wall.  Am  cantat. 

All  the  Romance  languages  use  the  auxiliary  habere ; two 
of  them  may  exchange  habere  for  tenere.  This  interchange 
of  auxiliary  verbs,  unknown  to  the  other  Romance  languages, 
does  not  take  place  under  the  same  circumstances  in  Spanish 
and  Portuguese.  The  Spanish  uses  tener  with  transitive 
verbs  when  a certain  stress  is  laid  on  the  action  expressed  by' 
the  verb,  whereas  in  Portuguese  ter  has  almost  completely 
superseded  haver.  This  discrepancy  must  not  be  overlooked, 
since  it  shows  how  independently  languages  develop. 

How  is  this  production  of  a new  auxiliary  in  the  western 
group  of  Romance  languages  to  be  explained  ? I do  not 
believe  it  safe  to  think  with  Diez  that  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  have  introduced  their  new  auxiliaries  from  a 

32 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages . 3 

desire  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  habere.  If  such  had  been  the 
cause  in  Portuguese  and  Spanish  of  that  innovation,  probably 
the  same  cause  would  have  exerted  its  influence  over  other 
Romance  languages  and  produced  in  them  parallel  changes. 
A strong  objection  to  the  view  of  Diez  is  found  in  the  very 
history  of  habere  in  Spanish  and*  Portuguese.  Why  is  it  that, 
during  several  centuries,  the  Spanish  did  not  feel  the  neces- 
sity of  using  tener  for  haber , when  the  latter  was  used  as  a 
principal  verb,  and  of  reducing  it  to  a mere  inflectional  part 
of  other  verbs,  or  to  a mere  auxiliary,  as  subsequently  hap- 
pened ? If  the  use  of  haber  from  the  first  l^nown  period  of 
the  Spanish  language  be  exhibited,  it  will  be  seen  that  this 
verb  was  treated  as  a principal,  or  true  verb,  side  by  side  with 
tener , and  that  the  instances  of  its  occurrence  as  such  by  far 
outnumbered  those  of  tener ; that  its  use  went  on  decreasing 
steadily,  but  slowly,  till  it  disappeared  (except  when  used  im- 
personally, or  with  the  force  of  debed)  to  play  the  part  of  a 
mere  verbal  inflectional  ending.  Statistics  here  will  not  be 
out  of  place,  and  they  will  show  better  than  any  general 
statement  the  fate  of  haber. 

Haber.  Tener. 

El  libro  de  los  Reyes  d’  Orient. 

E hovieron  gozo  por  mira.  Buena  casa  e fuerte  tenemos. 

Grant  ira  avia.  Yo  tengo  tan  manya  cuita. 

E non  ayamos  de  ellos  duelos. 

Que  nunqua  mas  fin  non  habra. 

Vida  de  Santa  Maria  Egipciaca. 

Si  ayades  de  Dios  pardon. 

E los  que  de  Dios  non  an  cura. 

Nos  ende  avremos  grant  lacerio. 

Que  debes  haber  honor. 

Doce  anyos  hovo  de  edat. 

Sol  que  aya  algo  quel  dar. 

Elios  avien  grant  sabor. 

Ella  avie  cinquanta  vivos  (amigos). 

Redondas  avie  las  orejas.  La  faz  tenie  colorada. 

Si  de  Dios  ayas  amor. 

Non  ho  talente  d’aqui  estar. 


33 


4 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Haber.  Tener. 

Yo  dieze,  he  buen  corpo. 

Que  non  he  oro  ni  argento. 

Non  he  conmigo  mas  que  un  dinero. 

Bien  se  que  habre  pardon. 

Un  nombre  avemos  yo  e ti. 

Ave  mercet  de  mi. 

Non  es  home  que  paraiso  hoviesse. 

Dos  panes  e medio  ha  en  todo  su  poder. 

Tres  panes  hovo  non  grandes  mucho. 

Grandes  avian  las  coronas. 

Non  avian  cura. 

Querie  haber  proprietat. 

Malas  intenciones  havien. 

Grant  pavor  havran. 

No  he  vestidura  ninguna. 

He  yo  gran  repintencia. 

Si  la  gracia  non  he. 

En  Dios  he  mi  creyenza. 

Ayas  tu  duelo  de  mi. 

Piedat  de  mi  cuerpo  non  avre. 

Que  mucho  mester  lo  avemos. 


Che  non  tengo  mas  d’un  dobro. 


Mas  non  tenemos  amas  una  via. 


Tu  tienes  un  tal  tesoro. 


El  Poema  del  Cid. 


Avie  grandes  cuydados  . . 

. . 6 

Tanto  avien  el  dolor  . . . 

. . 18 

Si  oviesse  buen  senor  . . 

. . 20 

Del  RRey  non  avie  gragia  . 

. . 50 

A las  fijas  que  ha  . . . 

. . 384 

Tiene  dos  areas  lenas  .... 

II3 

Avien  los  de  ganancia  . . 

. . 465 

Dozientos  marcos  que  tenie  el  rey 

Myedo  yva  aviendo  . . . 

. . 1079 

Alfonso 

3246 

Valencia  que  avemos  por  heredad,  1401 

Cinco  escuderos  tiene  don  Martino, 

, 187 

Todo  el  bien  que  yo  he  . 

E de  mi  abra  perdon  . . 

. . 1899 

Todo  lo  tengo  delant  .... 

1634 

Non  auredes  my  amor  . . 

. . 2029 

Tantos  avemos  de  averes  . 

. . 2529 

Tienen  buenos  cavallos .... 

602- 

Romancero  del  Cid. 

Hayais  la  muerte  que  el  hubo 

1 . 99 

Que  tenia  mil  amigos  .... 

5 

Que  magiier  que  haya  razon 

. . IOI> 

Si  tengo  razon  6 non  .... 

!5 

Caballeros  Castellanos. 

Que  como  otro  bien  non  tengo  . 

39 

Mudafar  consigo  habia  . . 

. . 105 

Y cinco  hijos  que  tenie  .... 

7i 

Tiene  la  culpa  e no  el  dueno  . . 

85 

El  rostro  tiene  turbado  .... 

87 

Que  no  tienen  piedad  .... 

97 

34 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages. 


5 


Tener. 

Con  quien  amistad  tenia. 

Los  de  a pie  no  tienen  cabo  . 

• 143 

Y tienan  gran  presuncion  . . 

. 1 68 

Testigos  tiengo  presentes  . . 

. 169 

El  Libre  d' Appolonio. 


Avian  ventos  derechos. 

Buena  fija  avemos. 

Aviemos  tal  senyor. 

Un  vestido  he  solo. 

Non  avie  el  poder  de  veyer. 

Avia  grant  repintencia. 

Avia  placer.1 

Poema  de  Alexandro  Magno. 


Tenyen  viento  bueno. 

Tenemos  un  buen  home. 

Senyor  destas  companyas. 

Que  no  tiene  vestido. 

El  mar  que  mengua  tuvo  leyaltad. 


Avra  de  mi  solas 

3 

Non  tenie  todas  oras  encobadas 

Avian  gran  alegria 

13 

las  manos. 

Avie  grant  corazon 

14 

Tienes  gran  mejoria  .... 

47 

Non  he  cura 

38 

Mas  yo  en  mi  non  tengo  el  cor 

Avie  grandes  virtudes  .... 

83 

que  vos  tenedes 

2123 

Non  avria  pavor 

92 

Si  lo  avia  el  brazo 

96 

A tales  a los  pelos  cuemo  faz  un 

leon 

138 

Avie  grant  bontat. 

Avian  buenos  agueros  .... 

274 

Tornada  non  avremos  .... 

847 

t 

Los  nuestros  pensamientos  non 

han  stabilidat 

940 

Ca  non  avria  tal  vulto  . . . ombre 

Tenie  cara  alegre. 

nacido 

1104 

Avran  de  vos  venganza  .... 

H55 

Yo  por  seso  lo  avria 

880 

No  lo  tengo  por  seso  .... 

879 

Vida  de  Santo  Domingo  de  Silos. 


Avie  cuerpo  fermoso 

128 

Non  avemos  dinero  nin  oro  . . 

364  Un  caballo  tenemos  en  casa 

Non  avras  nul  trabaio  .... 

663 

Avien  los  companneros  grand 

rancura  

293 

1 I quote  from  “ The  Book  of  Appolonius  ” these  few  instances  only,  having 
placed  opposite  each  other  instances  in  which  haber  and  tener  are  used  with 
equivalent  meaning,  and  where  the  one  could  have  been  used  for  the  other.  This 
will  illustrate  my  position  more  forcibly.  In  “ The  Book  of  Appolonius  ” tener  is 
already  used  at  least  as  often  as  haber. 


35 


6 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Haber.  Tener. 

Martyrio  de  San  Lorenzo. 

Ovo  grant  alegria 18 

Avie  en  la  cabeza  enfermedat  35 

La  Estoria  de  Senor  Sant  Millan. 

Avie  una  azemila 27  El  non  tenie  que  dar  li  . . . . 239 

Signos  del  Juicio. 

Si  io  gran  set  avia 33 

Averan  fambre  e frio  ....  33 


Cronica  del  Rey  don  Alfonso  decimo. 


Non  abrian  tiendas  ningunas  . . 

9 

Porque  tenia  derecho  e tenia  ver- 

E si  poder  avian  para  facer 

dad 

69 

emienda 

26 

Teniendo  gran  sentimiento  del  mal, 

69 

Donde  avran  ellos  caballos  e 

Todo  el  pan  que  tenian  .... 

72 

donde  los  avremos  nos  . . . 

52 

El  pesar  que  tenia  por  el  fijo  . . 

77 

Avia  grande  amistad  con  don 

Lope . 

65 

La  gran  guerra  que  ovo  con  el  rey 

Aben 

75 

Hurtado  de  Mendoza. 

(La  Vida  del  Lazarillo  de  Formes.) 

El  tenia  una  area  vieja  ....  I 
Sin  duda  debia  tener  spiritu  de 

profecia 27 

Tenia  cargo  de  proveer. 

Otra  cosa  no  tenia. 

Que  casi  tiene  forma  de  loro. 

Tenia  otras  mil  formas. 

El  gran  miedo  que  tenia  ...  25 

Tenia  poco  caridad. 

Mejor  vida  tienes  que  el  Papa. 

Yo  no  tengo  dinerosf  ....  38 

Mala  medra  teneif. 

Harto  miedo  la  tengo. 

49 

36 


Fingindo  haber  frio. 

Yo  hube  miedo  que  con  aquellas 
diligencias 


J 


i 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  / 

Haber.  Tener. 

Antonio  de  Solis. 

(. Historia  de  la  Conquista  de  Mexico .) 

Porque  tenia  rara  viveza  de  spfritu,  2 1 

Tenia  otras  . . . de  su  proprio 

natural 9 

El  poder  que  tenia  el  Cardinal  . 3 

El  re  don  Fernando  solo  tenia 

este  titulo 3 

Tenia  en  ella  tres  6 quatro  hijos  . 16 

Donde  tenia  el  vidrio  tanta  esti- 

macion 5 

De  que  tenemos  algunos  exemplos,  4 


Don  Quixote  de  la  Mancha. 


Tenie  en  su  casa  una  ama  ...  I. 
Tenie  el  sobre  nombre  de  quijada,  I. 
En  que  no  tengo  aqui  dineros  . IV. 
La  hermosura  que  tengo  . . XIV. 
Tengo  riquezas  proprias  . . XIV. 
No  tengas  pena,  amigo  . . . XVII. 

El  miedo  que  tienes. 

Yo  no  tengo  la  culpa  ....  XX. 
Tengo  aficion,  tengo  misericordia, 
etc.,  etc. 


Las  Mocedades  del  Cid:. 


En  mi  tendra  . . . un  fiel  vasallo,  120 


Tiene  la  cura  a su  cargo  . . . 157 

Tiene  razon 272 

Honra  tiene  para  todos . . . . 321 
Pulso  tengo  todavia. 

No  tengo  mas  virtud 2254 

Tiene  prudencia  y valor. 


Tiene  la  leche  en  los  labios  . . 785 

We  see  that  in  Don  Quixote  and  Las  Mocedades  del  Cid 
haber  is  no  longer  used  to  indicate  possession.  It  is  used 
only  as  an  impersonal  verb.  Cf.  Don  Quixote  : 


Habiendo  infinitos  anos  de  lo  uno  a lo  otro 

Asegurando  le  que  no  hdbria  cosa  que  mas  justo  le  diese  que  saberlo  . 

37 


XLVIII. 

XLVII.j 


8 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


or,  in  the  sense  of  deber , cf.  Las  Moceclades  del  Cid  : 

Que  he  de  poner,  710. 

On  glancing  through  the  foregoing  references  it  becomes 
evident  that  haber  has  ceased  to  be  an  independent  verb  in 
Don  Quixote  and  Las  Mocedaaes  del  Cid,  and  is  used  as  such 
only  in  a few  instances  in  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  so  that  the 
sixteenth  century  may  be  considered  as  the  time  of  the  dis- 
appearance of  haber  as  a principal  verb.  In  the  above  quota- 
tions I have  placed  side  by  side  similar  sentences,  in  some  of 
which  Jiaber  is  used,  and  in  others  tener , thus  showing  that 
haber  and  tener  could  be  used  indiscriminately,  the  one  for 
the  other,  and  that  no  essential  difference  existed  then  between 
those  two  verbs.  Compare:  — 

Haber.  Tener. 

Avien  ventos  derechos.  Tenyen  viento  bueno. 

Buena  fija  avemos.  Tenemos  un  buen  home. 

Un  vestido  he  solo.  Que  no  tiene  vestido,  etc. 

But  at  the  same  time  it  must  be  noticed  that  whenever  an 
abstract  idea  is  to  be  expressed,  as  for  instance  in  duelo , dolor , 
pardon , placer , miedo , etc.,  the  preference  is  given,  in  most 
cases,  to  haber.  In  fact,  I have  only  noted  seventeen  instances 
in  which  haber  was  used  to  express  a concrete  idea,  and  these 
mostly  in  the  earliest  documents.  Tener  was  the  verb  to 
express  concrete  conceptions  and  material  possession,  though 
it  was  also  frequently  used  to  express  abstract  ideas ; so  that, 
in  fact,  its  use  was  more  extensive  and  varied  than  that  of  its 
rival  haber.  This  being  the  case,  tener  grew  in  power  and  in 
favor,  while  the  reverse  was  true  of  haber.  Little  by  little 
haber  was  deprived  even  of  the  power  of  expressing  an  abstract 
conception,  and  left  to  play  the  part  of  a pure  inflectional  end- 
ing. Even  here  it  is  rivalled  by  tener ; for  whenever  a par- 
ticular stress  is  laid  on  the  verbal  notion,  tener  takes  the  place 
of  haber. 

Thus,  instead  of  attributing  the  introduction  of  new  auxili- 
ary verbs  in  Spanish  and  Portuguese  to  a dislike  of  the 
repetition  of  the  same  verb,  it  seems  more  natural  to  attri- 

38 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  9 

bute  it,  first,  to  the  close  relatio?i  of  meaning  existing  between 
tenere  and  habere , which  accounts  for  the  indiscriminate  use 
of  the  one  for  the  other  in  the  beginning ; secondly,  to  the 
fact  that  haber , by  its  very  meaning,  was  adapted  to  the  ex- 
pression of  abstract  ideas  ; because,  taking  into  consideration 
the  great  importance  of  that  development  of  new  auxiliaries 
in  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  it  cannot  be  admitted  that  a law 
of  mere  euphony,  as  Diez  suggests,  has  occasioned  such  a 
development.  New  auxiliaries  are  not  produced  to  avoid  too 
frequent  a repetition  of  one  already  existing,  but  really  because 
new  ones;  more  expressive  and  more  convenient  to  convey  the 
thoughts,  offer  themselves. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  haber  and  tener  in  Spanish,  the 
period  of  the  language  at  which  the  two  verbs  had  nearly  the 
same  meaning  and  were  used  almost  indifferently  in  the  same 
sentences  has  been  shown  ; as  also  the  period  at  which  they 
became  distinct  in  use,  one  of  them  even  losing  its  independ- 
ent existence.  The  same  phenomenon  may  be  observed  in 
Portuguese.  A few  instances  will  suffice. 


Haber.  Tener. 

II  canzoniere  Portoghese  ( MonacVs  edition). 


Poys  mal  ne  bem  de  vos  no  ey  . 

18 

Tenheu  por  gram 

maravilha  . . no 

Quanto  ben  auya  perdi  .... 

33 

Que  nu  ca  teneste 

por  ben . . . 128 

E po  mhavedes  g m des  amor 

100 

Poys  no  auedes  merce  de  mi  . 

108 

Q no  ey  en  my  forza  ni  poder 

130 

Cura  no  auedes 

366 

Des  q mespertey  ouiu  gra  peser. 

Si  vos  pecado  avedes  .... 
Per  sonho  mu  g m vergonca  ave- 

470 

Mais  tenho  q xha 

errou  0 iograr. 

des  

982 

In  the  Canzoniere,  as  we  see,  haver  is  by  far  the  most  in 
use  ; ter  has  rather  the  meaning  of  ‘ esteeming,  thinking,’  than 
* possessing.’ 

Hardunf  s Roma?iceiro  Porttcguez. 

E tres  irmaos  que  havia  . . . 159  Uma  so  filha  que  tendes  ....  16 

Chorava  e razao  havia  . . . . 161  Uma  irma  que  eu  tinha  ....  31 

Ja  se  foram  as  galleras.  As  tres  azenhas  que  tenho. 

Que  Dom  Duardos  havia  . . . 161  Tendes  los  olhos  bonitos  .•  . . 97 

39 


IO 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Haber.  Tener. 


Antologia  Portuguesa. 

Ey  gran  cuidado  . 

. . 7 Quern  frores  d’amor  tern  . . . 

• H 

Que  gram  saber  eu  havya 

. * 9 Se  mais  tevesse  mais  daria  . 

• 33 

Avemos  majores  coidados 

. . . 20  Tendes  pae  e tendes  mae  . . 

. 65 

Nom  ha  torto  .... 

• • • 33 

Avian  dinheiros  . 

• • • 37 

Averia  gran  prazer  migo 

...  48 

Senhoras  nam  ajaes  medo 

. . . 156 

Has  medo  que  morrerei? 

Hei 

. . . 164 

Up  to  this  period  haver  is  used  more  frequently  than  ter , as 
was  the  case  in  Spanish.  Both  bore  about  the  same  meaning, 
and  could  be  used  the  one  for  the  other  in  similar  sentences. 
In  Sa  de  Miranda  and  in  Camoens,  the  reverse  is  true.  Ter 
prevails,  and  haver  becomes  more  nearly  obsolete,  and  is 
reduced  to  play  the  part  corresponding  to  that  of  the  French 
verb  avoir  in  “ il  y a ,”  or  to  be  a substitute  for  convir  or  the 
French  falloir:  Hei  de  par tir  (il  faut  que  je  parte). 

Sa  de  Miranda  ( Os  Fstrangeiros') . 

Deixay  me  passar  que  nao 


Ey  contigo  nada 

102 

Tu  tern  cuydado  de  meu  . . . 

93 

Nao  ajaes  vos  medo 

1 16 

E tern  razao 

94 

Lucrecia  avia  a minha  filha  nome 

142 

E essas  nao  tern  spirito 

”5 

Bons  pes  tenho 

124 

Pouca  confian?a  tens  en  Lucrecia 

129 

Os  Vilhalpandos . 

Mas  ey  miedo  que  nos  fuya 

0 

tempo 

E averemos  todos  conselho 

• 273 

Nao  temos  tempos  . . . , . 

273 

Cuidado  avia  en  casa 

. 258 

Tenho  inimigos  . * . 

257 

Quando  aviamos  mister  mil  olhos  226 

Nao  tive  mais  paciencia  . . . 

240 

Tenho  grande  necessidade  de  ti  . 

192 

Tinha  algun  sentimiento  de  homen 

196 

Aiuda  tu  tens  boas  pernas  . . . 

220 

Os  Lusiadas. 

Que  tambem  della  hao.  medo  , 

. II.47 

Victorias  que  tiveram  .... 

1-3 

Portugal  houve  em  sorte 

. III.  25 

Tenham  inveja  ...... 

1-3 

Este  porhaver  fama  sempiterna  IV.  60 

40 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  ir 

Haber.  Tener. 

Quando  juntas  com  subita  alegria  Poder  nao  teve  a morte  . . . I.  14 

Houveram  vista  da  ilha  namo-  Por  armas  tern  adargas . . . . I.  47 

rada IX.  51 

Piloto  aqui  tereis. 

Tempo  concertado  eventos  tinha  I.  95 
Nao  teve  resistencia . ...  II.  69 

O tu  que  so  tiveste  piedade  . II.  105 
. O tu  que  tens  humano  o gesto  III.  127 

As  I have  not  had  the  opportunity  to  gather  instances 
from  a later  period  of  the  Portuguese  language,  I cannot  give 
the  exact  date  of  the  complete  disappearance  of  haver  as 
used  to  indicate  possession.  The  sixteenth  century  and  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeeth  may  be  assigned  both  for  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  as  the  declining  period  of  haber , though  the 
change  of  this  verb  appears  to  have  been  slower  in  Portu- 
guese than  in  Spanish. 

Such  has  been  the  history  of  haber  and  haver , tener  and  ter 
considered  by  themselves.  It  will  now  be  shown  that,  con- 
sidered as  mere  auxiliaries,  they  have  passed  through  nearly 
the  same  process  of  development ; that  is  to  say,  tener  is  used 
to  form  the  compound  tenses  in  Spanish  alongside  with  haber ; 
and  ter  supersedes  almost  entirely  haver  in  Portuguese. 

Vida  de  Santa  Maria  Egipciaca . 

Tanto  la  avia  el  diablo  comprisa. 

Dexare  aquesta  vida. 

Que  mucha  la  he  mantenida. 

Quando  hovo  fecho  su  jornada. 

El  Libre  d'Appolonio. 

Por  el  amor  que  yo  tengo  estab- 
lecido  contigo. 

Des  aqui  adelante  lograr  quiero 
lo  que  tengo  ganado  ....  649 

Poema  de  Alexandro  Magno. 

El  infante  quando  ovo  su  cosa  Pora  en  Pentapolim  lo  tengo  es- 

acabada 147  leido. 

Quando  todas  tierras  ovo  en  paz  Que  esso  que  tu  dices  tenia  yo  es- 

tornadas 223  mado 1840 


41 


2 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Haber. 

Et  yo  si  non  oviesse  abiertos  los 

caminos 236 

Tovieron  que  havian  fecho  bona 
conquista 1698 

La  Estoria  de  Senor  Sant  Millan . 

Secund  esta  noticia  que  avemos 

contado 364 

Que  todos  estos  signos  que  vos 
visto  avedes 403 

El  Poema  del  Cid. 

Bien  los  ovo  bastidos  ....  68 

Quando  tal  batalla  avemos  aran- 

cado 793 

Desta  batalla  que  avemos  aran- 
cada 814 


Tener. 

Ya  tenie  aguisado  naves  e mari- 
neros. 


Antonio  de  Solis. 


Per  que  habia  muerto  su  compa- 
nero XIV. 


Las  lineas  que  tenia  tiradas  . III. 

Cuyo  imperio  tenia  el  cielo  des- 

tinado  par  engrandecer  . . V. 

Ya  tenia  comprados  algunos  ba- 

xeles VIII. 

La  confederacion  que  tenian 

hecha XVII. 


Don  Quixote . 


Tambien  como  otro  que  haya  go- 

bernado  insulas X. 

Has  tu  visto  mas  valeroso  Cabal- 
lero que  yo X. 

Ya  no  he  leido  ninguna  historia  X. 

De  cinco  que  habia  dejado  en 

ella XXIII. 


Pero  ya  tenia  abierto  uno  el 

barbero VI. 

Lo  que  de  la  insula  me  tiene 

promedido VII. 

No  se  paguen  donde  tengo  dicho  X. 

Como  tenie  tambien  conecido  el 

humor XLV. 


Thus  we  see  that  in  Spanish  tener  is  used  in  compound 
tenses  wherever  there  is  a stress  laid  upon  the  verbal  idea,  or 
when  the  action  expressed  by  the  verb  is  considered  as  not 
belonging  merely  to  the  past,  but  as  continuing  in  the  pres- 
ent. In  a word,  the  tenses  compounded  with  tener  denote  a 

42 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  13 

more  lasting  and  more  emphatic  conception.  This  is,  of 
course,  the  natural  result  of  the  stronger  and  more  concrete 
meaning  of  tener , as  compared  with  the  weaker  and  more 
abstract  one  of  haber. 

A greater  predominance  has  been  accorded  to  the  new 
auxiliary  in  Portuguese  than  in  Spanish  ; for  while  in  the 
latter  tener  allows  haber  to  play  a very  important  part  in  the 
conjugation  of  verbs,  or  replaces  it  only  in  special  cases,  ter 
in  Portuguese  has  become  the  true  auxiliary,  and  haver  is 
very  seldom  met.  The  following  quotations  will  show  ter 
superseding  the  auxiliary  haver , as  ter  principal  verb  had 
superseded  haver  principal  verb. 


Haber.  Tener. 


II  canzoniere 

Se  qr  do  q lhy  auia  emp  stado. 

Nostro  senhor  se  averez  guydado 
Gram  pecado  avedes  de  mi  coy- 

130 

tado 

131 

Pr  qua  te  mal  ey  levado  . . . 

145 

Que  muyto  mel  avia  jurado 

*45 

Mays  pr  q mha  mentido  . . . 

250 

Q lheu  avya  mandado  .... 

413 

Muytos  anos  avemos  passados 

455 

Pois  me  avedes  preguntado  . . 

Ca  hu  iudeu  avedes  enganado. 

903 

Portoghese. 

Ora  senhor  tenho  muyt  agisado  . 220 

Ora  tenho  guysado  de  marchar  . 952 


Hurdling' s Romanceiro  Portuguez. 


0 falcao  perdido  havia  .... 

47 

Tenho  feito  juramento  . . . . 

25 

Que  nunca  me  has  mentido 

106 

Aonde  nunca  tinha  ido. 

Ou  grande  traicao  ha  sido  . . . 

no 

Acorda  ja  bella  infanta. 

Triste  sommo  tens  dormido  . . 

in 

Pois  tudo  tendes  ouvido  . . . 

11 3 

Antologia 

Portuguesa. 

Um  cantar  d’amig  ha  feyto  . . 

10 

D’aver  coita  muita  ten’eu  guisado  . 

46 

Mays  pois  m’o  houveran  dito  . . 

10 

Tinha  0 cavallo  sellado  .... 

63 

Ca  muitos  annos  avemos  passados 

20 

A morte  tenho  passada  .... 

69 

Preguntal-o-ey  porque  me  ha  des- 

pagado  

25 

43 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


H 


Haber. 

Tener. 

Ca  langa  ha  torta  d’un  ramo  . 

• 32 

"E  tantos  padecimientos  tenho  pas- 

Que  0 aormir  ja  0 ey  perdido 

. 44 

sados  

Eo  ouve  bem  servido  . . . 

. 84 

Senhor  que  nos  ha  livrado  . . 

. 109 

Haver  is  more  frequently  used  than  ter  as  an  auxiliary  in 
the  Romanceiro,  the  Antologia,  and  especially  in  the  Canzo- 
niere,  but  the  balance  is  soon  changed. 


Sa  de  Miranda  (Os  Vilhalpandos). 

Temos  gastado  muito  do  tempo  . 78 

Quantos  exercitos  tenho  eu  so  por 

num  desbaratados 161 

Milagros  que  ja  tinhao  feitos  . . 166 

Nao  sabes  tu  que  tens  mudado  o 

costume 216 

Escudos  que  tinha  recebidos  . . 249 

Quantas  vezes  tenho  dito. 

Seu  conselho  que  eu  avido  tenho  124 
O rosto  do  pay  a que  tens  errado. 

Cuida  que  me  tern  alugado  . . 144 


Os  Lusiadas. 


Que  havendo  tanto  ja  que  as 

partes  vindo I.  27 

Do  licor  que  Lyeo  prantado 
havia. 

Enchem  vasos  de  vidro  . . I.  49 

Hajam  os  Portuguezes  alcan- 

?ado 1-74 


Nao  nego  que  ha  comtudo  . VIII.  42 


Nas  aguas  tern  passado  o duro 

inverno I.  28 

E tendo  guarnecida  a lassa 


frota I.  29 

Ouvido  tinha  aos  Fados  . . I.  31 

Da  determinagao  que  tens  to- 

mada I.  40 

Diversos  ceos  e terras  temos 

visto I.  §1 

Como  entendido  tenho  ...  1-79 

Tem  determinado  de  vir  por 

agua I.  80 

Nao  menos  tem  mostrado  es- 

forgo  e manha VII.  71 

Que  Amor  por  grao  mercS  lhe 

tera  dado V.  46 


Ter  in  the  Lusiadas  is  used  in  eighty-eight  per  cent  of 
the  instances  of  compound  tenses. 

44 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  i 5 


Haber.  Tener. 

Colleccao  de  Tratados  ( sixteenth  century)  por  Biker. 

Algunos  portugueses  a que  vos 


alteza  tem  dado  credito  ...  7 

Tinha  ganado  Urmuz 25 

Enquiry  coes  que  sobre  a dita  morte 

tenho  tiradas 52 

Os  portos  que  tynheis  ganhado  aos 

Mouros 25 

A ilha  de  Maquiem  que  tinhao  to- 
rnado   • . 52 


I have  found  no  other  instances  of  haver  in  the  first  part 
of  the  Tratados. 


Chapter  II. — Auxiliaries  used  with  Intransitive  Verbs. 

The  question  concerning  the  use  of  habere  and  tenere  as 
independent  verbs  or  as  auxiliaries  to  transitive  verbs,  is  easy 
to  study  and  to  solve.  In  Italian,  French,  and  Provencal, 
habere  is  now  and  has  always  been  the  only  auxiliary.  In 
the  preceding  rapid  sketch,  it  has  been  shown  that  the  use 
of  two  auxiliaries  in  Spanish  and  Portuguese  is  due  to  the 
antagonism  and  particular  development  of  two  words  having 
originally  a similar  meaning.  But  the  question  of  the  use  of 
auxiliaries  with  intransitive  verbs  is  of  a quite  different  kind, 
and  fraught  with  many  difficulties.  An  historical  treatment 
of  that  question  in  French  and  Italian  needs  be  quite  exten- 
sive. The  task  is  easier  in  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  since 
these  languages,  yielding  more  to  the  power  of  analogy  in 
their  conjugational  system  than  either  French  or  Italian, 
have  employed  a single  auxiliary  for  their  intransitive  conju- 
gation, — at  least,  during  the  last  three  or  four  centuries. 

Let  us  examine  the  question  in  each  of  the  Romance 
languages. 

I.  Auxiliaries  used  with  Intransitive  Verbs  in  French. 

Two  auxiliaries  are  used  in  compound  tenses  of  the  French 
intransitive  verbs  : avoir  and  etre.  The  derivation  of  avoir 

45 


1 6 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


from  Latin  habere  is  perfectly  clear  and  well  understood. 
The  different  tenses  of  the  French  verb  etre  have  been  taken 
from  those  of  the  corresponding  Latin  verb,  esse,  sum,fui,  etc., 
save  the  imperfect  e'tais  from  stabam,  the  present  participle 
etant  from  stantem,  and  the  past  participle  e'te  from  statum. 
The  Old  French  possessed  two  imperfects,  ere  and  estoie. 
The  first  was  used  more  frequently  in  early  French  docu- 
ments, and  very  likely  continued  to  be  employed  during  the 
next  two  centuries  with  decided  preference,  and  we  find  it 
still  in  the  prose  of  Villehardouin  and  Joinville;  but  at  the 
end  of  the  thirteenth  century  estoie  had  become  the  more 
important,  and  in  the  next  hundred  years  rose  to  be  a rival  of 
ere,  and  even  began  to  usurp  its  place.  Now  why  did  the 
French  reject  eram  for  the  sake  of  staba7n  ? The  reason  is 
similar  to  that  given  in  explanation  of  the  preference  given 
by  the  Spanish  to  tenere  as  contrasted  with  habere.  Stare 
bore  about  the  same  relation  to  esse  as  tenere  to  habere. 
Stare  in  Latin  could  be  used  and  was  used  to  indicate  exist- 
ence/being thus  synonymous  with  esse.  Esse  has  an  abso- 
lutely abstract  meaning,  and  expresses  a permanent  and  inti- 
mate state  or  condition  of  existence  of  the  subject,  while 
stare  implies  a more  descriptive,  more  external,  and  more 
transient  one.  It  is  especially  to  this  last  meaning  of  stare 
that  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  have  given  a particular 
development.  In  French,  stare  has  entirely  supplanted  esse 
in  its  imperfect  use,  the  imperfect  being  the  descriptive  tense 
par  excellence ; the  keeping  of  etant  and  ete  is  due  rather  to 
a lack  of  corresponding  forms  in  the  Latin  verb  esse  than  to 
anything  else. 

The  future  ser-ai  is  generally  taken  from  essere  habeo.  But 
essere  habeo  ought  to  have  given  us  estr-ai.  This  form  is 
actually  found  in  Saint  Leger, 

tos  consilier  ia  non  esti-ai  (16), 

and  in  the  Alexis, 

Chambre,  dist  ele  ia  mais  vfestras  parede  (29). 

Could  not,  then,  serai  be  derived  from  other  sources  ? We 
shall  see  when  we  come  to  the  Spanish. 

46 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  ij 

After  these  general  remarks  on  esse  in  French,  let  us  con- 
sider the  use  of  the  auxiliaries  in  the  intransitive  verbs  in 
French. 

Grammarians  have  laid  down  the  following  rule  concerning 
the  use  of  these  auxiliaries,  viz.  : With  intransitive  or  neuter 
verbs  the  auxiliary  avoir  is  used  when  the  verb  is  considered 
as  expressing  an  action,  and  the  auxiliary  etre  is  used  when 
the  verb  is  considered  as  expressing  more  particularly  a state 
or  condition. 

M.  Chabanneau  adds  : “ II  n’y  a pas  a cet  egard  de  regie 
absolue,  non  plus  que  d’usage  uniforme  dans  les  langues 
romanes.”  Does  this  principle  hold  good  ? When  I say,  Je 
sins  venu  vous  voir ; Quand  je  suis  entre  le  theatre  com- 
menqait  . . . / Les  allies  sont  entres  dans  la  ville , vers  les  sept 
heures , I use  the  auxiliary  etre , although  the  verbs  venir , 
entrer.,  do  not  denote  state  or  condition,  but  express  clearly 
the  action  of  coming  and  entering.  Such  a law  as  that  stated 
above  is  not  satisfactory.  M.  Chabanneau  tries  to  illustrate 
the  rule  by  the  two  following  examples : Cette  femme  a 
accouche  ce  matin  ; Cette  femme  est  accouchee  heureusement. 
In  the  first  example,  says  our  author,  we  have  in  mind  the 
action  rather  than  the  result  of  accoucher ; but  in  the  second, 
the  result  rather  than  the  action.  The  dictionaries  of  the 
French  Academy  and  of  Littre  say  the  same  thing.  It  would 
seem  bold  to  oppose  two  such  authorities.  Their  statement 
may  be  true  as  regards  present  usage,  but  it  is  not  always 
true  in  regard  to  Old  French.  Before  showing  what  was  the 
case  with  the  Old  French,  I shall  remark  that  M.  Chaban- 
neau, in  the  two  instances  above  given,  limits  the  first  verb 
by  an  adverbial  modifier,  11  ce  matinf  which  time  limitation 
obliges  us  to  think  rather  of  the  action  than  of  the  condition, 
and  modifies  the  second  verb  by  an  adverb  of  manner,  “ heur- 
eusementf pointing  out  a condition  rather  than  an  action. 
The  example  given  is  evidently  chosen  to  fit  the  rule.  But 
take  the  same  example,  omitting  the  modifiers  referred  to 
above:  Cette  femme  a accouche  d'une  file  ; Cette  femme  est 
accouchee  d'une  file.  Both  of  these  expressions  are,  gram- 

47 


i8 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


matically  speaking,  correct,  and  both  express  an  action,  show- 
ing that  there  ought  to  be  no  difference  between  the  two 
auxiliaries. 

Littre  in  his  dictionary  says  that  “ Elle  a accouche  heu- 
reusement,”  “ Elle  est  accouchee  depuis  un  mois,”  are  faulty 
locutions.  Why  ? Because  the  Academy  says  so,  and  be- 
cause M.  Littre  asserts  that  a accouche  expresses  the  action, 
and  est  accouchee  the  condition.  Compare  parallel  expres- 
sions in  Old  French  : — 

Ci-dessous  gist  estendue  et  couchee 

Une  qu’amour  si  bien  vaincue  avoit 

Que  plusieurs  fois  elle  en  fust  accouchee.  — St.  Gelai,  197. 

According  to  M.  Littre,  such  a locution  also  is  faulty,  because 
plusieurs  fois  elle  en  fut  accouchee  expresses  an  action,  as  well 
as  elle  a accouche  depuis  un  mois.  Yet  we  have  a more  strik- 
ing instance  of  what  M.  Littre  could  have  called  a faulty  locu- 
tion in  Joinville,  Histoire  de  St.  Louis , p.  218:  “La  Royne 
acoucha  d’un  fil  qui  ot  non  Jehan.  Le  jour  meism  que  elle 
fu  acouchief  etc.  Is  not  the  verb  accoucher  used  here  in  the 
same  way  as  in  Littre’s  “vicieuse  locution,”  quoted  above, 
and  in  Chabanneau’s  “elle  a accouche  ce  matin  ” t Hence  it 
is  apparent  that  the  rule  requiring  etre  to  denote  condition 
and  avoir  action  is  based  on  modern  usage,  and,  I dare  say, 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  historical  development  of  the 
auxiliary  usage  itself. 

It  would  take  too  long  to  quote  in  detail  what  other  gram- 
marians have  said  about  the  use  of  auxiliaries  in  the  intransi- 
tive verbs  in  French.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  they  have  divided 
the  neuter  verbs  of  the  French  conjugation,  numbering  about 
six  hundred,  in  the  following  three  classes,  viz.  : first  class, 
comprising  verbs  conjugated  regularly  with  avoir  (about  five 
hundred  and  forty)  ; second  class,  comprising  verbs  conju- 


gated  with  etre  exclusively,  viz. 

: — 

aller 

avenir  deceder 

disconvenir 

entrer 

partir 

rancir 

tomber 

arriver 

avorter  dechoir 

echoir 

mourir 

provenir 

redevenir 

retomber 

atterrir 

choir  devenir 

emaner 

naitre 

rabougrir 

ressortir 

venir 

48 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  19 

and  third  class,  comprising  verbs  conjugated  sometimes  with 
etre  and  sometimes  with  avoir , such  as 

f 

aborder  apparaitre  contrevenir  demeurer  expirer  passer  resoudre 

accoucher  baisser  croitre  descendre  grandir  perir  resulter 

accourir  cesser  degenerer  disparaltre  monter  rester  vieillir 

and  some  others.  As  to  the  verbs  conjugated  with  etre  alone, 
grammarians  maintain  that  they  cannot  take  the  auxiliary 
avoir , because  they  express  nothing  but  a state  or  condition. 
As  to  the  verbs  conjugated  with  avoir  or  etre , grammarians 
have  used  all  their  critical  acumen  to  explain  the  use  of  the 
one  or  the  other.  They  have  even  censured  illustrious'writers 
for  not  adhering  to  the  rules  formulated  by  them.  For  in- 
stance, Racine  said  in  Berenice,  A.  II.  Sc.  L,  II  en  etait  sorti 
lorsque  fy  suis  couru.  If  we  listen  to  grammarians,  Racine 
was  wrong,  and  ought  to  have  said,  fy  ai  couru.  We  shall 
see  later  whether  Racine  was  wrong  or  not  in  saying  j'y  suis 
couru.  Compare  courir  with  its  compound  accourir.  Courir 
must  take  the  auxiliary  avoir , and  accourir  may  take  either 
avoir  or  etre.  Why  ? 

M.  Girault  Durivier,  in  his  “ Grammaire  des  Grammairesf 
p.  472,  says  : “La  raison  pour  laquelle  courir  prend  toujours. 
l’auxiliaire  avoir,  et  accourir  tantot  l’auxiliaire  avoir  et  tantot 
l’auxiliaire  etre  est  que  courir  n’exprime  qu’un  mouvement,. 
qu’une  action,  au  lieu  que  dans  accourir  qui  signifie  se  mettre 
en  mouvement  pour  arriver  promptement  a son  but  on  dis- 
tingue deux  choses,  l’action  de  se  mettre  en  mouvement  pour 
courir  vers  un  but,  et  l’etat  qui  resulte  de  cette  action  faite. 
Des  que  je  V ai  entendu  se  p lain  dr e,  j'  ai  account  a son  secours. 
Je  suis  accouru  a son  secoitrs  (would  mean,  says  the  author) 
j' etais  dans  V e tat  qui  resulte  de  V action  d' accourir  au  secours 
de  quelqu  un."  The  correctness  of  the  author  is  not  to  be 
doubted,  but  the  explanation  is  questionable.  M.  Girault 
Durivier  is  right,  according  to  the  modern  tendency  which 
dictates  the  use  of  avoir  or  etre  in  cases  similar  to  those 
quoted.  But  I hardly  think  that  the  use  of  the  one  or 
the  other  auxiliary  essentially  modifies  the  verbal  meaning. 
Other  Romance  languages  have,  in  their  early  period,  made 

49 


20 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


use  of  two  auxiliaries  also  ; but  later  on  they  were  confined 
to  one,  without  losing  the  power  of  expressing  with  one 
auxiliary  shades  of  meaning  that  seem  to  require  in  French 
the  discriminating  use  of  two  auxiliaries.  Voltaire  said  in 
Orphelin  de  la  Chine,  II.  3 : — 

Ou  serais-je,  Grand  Dieu ! si  ma  credulite 

Etit  tombe  dans  le  piege  k mes  pas  presente  ! 

Here  Voltaire  seems  to  be  wrong,  because  he  makes  use  of 
the  auxiliary  avoir  with  tomber , and  tomber  cannot  take  such 
an  auxiliary.  So  J.  J.  Rousseau,  according  to  the  same  gram- 
marian, was  wrong  when  he  said  C' est  ainsi  que  la  modestie 
du  sexe  est  disparue  peu  a pen  ; because  here  disparaitre 
expresses  an  action,  and  not  a state  or  condition.  The  same 
remarks  have  been  made  about  the  use  of  auxiliaries  with 
other  intransitive  verbs, , such  as  perir , e'chouer , accoucher, 
cesser , demeurer , apparaitre , croitre , partir,  rester,  etc.  It 
would  take  too  long  to  consider  these  verbs,  one  by  one,  and 
to  discuss  their  special  meaning  according  to  the  auxiliary 
with  which  they  are  conjugated.  I shall  only  remark  that 
the  rules  given  by  the  grammarians  are  not  observed  in 
popular  usage,  where 

II  a descendu  l’escalier  en  courant 

or 

II  est  descendu  l’escalier  en  courant 

are  used  indiscriminately,  and  convey  the  same  meaning. 

The  inconsistency  of  grammarians  and  the  unsatisfactory 
explanation  they  have  given  concerning  auxiliaries  may  serve 
as  an  excuse  for  my  trying  another  explanation,  based  entirely 
on  the  comparison  of  the  modern  with  the  Old  French,  and 
for  presenting  a few  considerations  on,  first,  different  kinds 
of  verbs ; secondly,  the  origin  of  the  so-called  neuter  or 
intransitive  verbs  ; and  thirdly,  the  different  kinds  of  neuter 
verbs. 

First : Different  Kinds  of  Verbs. 

The  classification  here  made  of  verbs  is  based  on  the  fol- 
lowing principle : Every  verb  is  active  in  its  original  and 

50 


Use  of  Auxiliaiy  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  21 

primary  meaning,  and  expresses  an  action.  Every  verb  has 
the  inherent  power  of  being  used  as  transitive  or  intransitive; 
consequently  verbs  intransitive  in  modern  French  may  have 
been  formerly,  and  can  be  used  in  the  future  as,  transitive ; 
verbs  intransitive  in  some  of  the  Romance  languages  have 
been,  are,  or  may  be  used  as  transitive  in  some  other  Romance 
languages.  Compare  jouir,  prosperer,  courir,  obeir,  dormir, 
renoncer  ( intransitive  dn  French) , and  godere,  prosperare, 
correre,  ubbidfre,  domire,  rinunciare  ( transitive  in  Italian ). 

Ex. — Ed  allora  gode  la  fortiria  (Bocc.). 

Ex.  — Mai  hai  i tuoi  maestri  ubbidfti,  etc. 

A verb  is  not  necessarily  transitive  or  intransitive  ; it  is 
made  the  one  or  the  other  according  to  the  development  of 
its  own  meaning,  and  according  to  the  peculiar  genius,  stage, 
and  tendency  of  the  language  in  which  it  is  used.  Hence  all 
verbs  in  their  nature  are  active  verbs,  and  express  an  action  ; 
in  their  use  they  are  divided  into  two  classes,  viz.  : transi- 
tives, affecting  an  external  object;  and  intransitives,  or  semi- 
transitives, affecting  the  subject.  For  brevity’s  sake,  the 
verbs  of  the  first  class  may  be  called  objective-transitives ; 
and  those  of  the  second,  subjective-transitives.  The  verbs  of 
the  first  class,  expressing  an  activity  directed  towards  an 
external  object,  are  conjugated  with  avoir ; the  verbs  of  the 
second  class,  expressing  an  action  affecting  the  subject  itself, 
partake  of  the  nature  of  passive  verbs,  and  thus  take  etre. 

But  later  on  the  second  class  of  verbs  was  developed  into 
two  classes  : subjunctive  transitives  fully  expressed  : Je  me 
repens;  and  subjunctive  transitives  elliptically  expressed  : Je 
meurs  (for  Je  me  meurs).  Compare  Spanish,  Italian,  Portu- 
guese. 

Secondly : Neuter  Verbs.  Their  Origin. 

To  the  second  of  the  above  classes  belong  the  so-called 
neuter  verbs ; they  are  nothing  but  elliptical  reflexive  verbs, 
or  subjunctive  transitives  elliptically  expressed.  As  a conse- 
quence, they  form  in  several  cases  their  compound  tenses 
with  etre , according  to  the  principle  described  above. 

5i 


22 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Thirdly : Different  Classes  of  Neuter  Verbs. 

With  reference  to  conjugation,  neuter  verbs  must  be 
divided  into  three  classes  : — 

First,  neuter  verbs,  the  radical  significance  of  which  being 
still  felt,  are  conjugated  with  etre  ; not  at  all  because  they 
express  a state  or  condition  rather  than  an  action,  but  be- 
cause they  are  elliptical  reflexive  verbs. 

Secondly,  neuter  verbs  still  under  the  influence  of  their 
origin,  but  yielding  in  a great  measure  to  the  effect  of  what 
I should  call  the  Romance  tendency.  Under  that  tendency 
Romance  languages  have  been  substituting,  in  a less  or 
greater  degree,  active  and  reflexive  for  passive  expressions, 
and  active  verbs  for  passive  verbs ; hence  active  auxiliary  for 
passive  auxiliary.  As  a consequence,  the  verbs  under  the 
influence  of  these  two  principles  will  have  a wavering  use  of 
the  auxiliaries  etre  and  avoir , with  a slight  preference  for  avoir. 

Thirdly,  neuter  verbs  subject  to  the  influence  of  the  Ro- 
mance active  tendency,  and  taking  the  auxiliary  avoir  exclu- 
sively. This  third  class  of  neuter  verbs  is  the  only  class  to 
be  found  at  present  in  some  of  the  Romance  languages. 

I will  now  take  a certain  number  of  verbs  belonging  to  the 
first  class,  and  prove  that  they  have  been  used  in  the  Old 
French  as  true  reflexive  verbs.  For  instance,  with  alter,  Je 
sins  alle  is  equivalent  to  Je  me  suis  alle.  The  study  of  the 
verb  aller  in  Old  French  literature  is  very  interesting.  The 
frequency  of  its  use  may  be  said  not  to  be  exceeded  by  that 
of  any  other  verb.  When  the  different  ways  in  which  aller 
is  conjugated  are  observed,  the  student  is  at  no  loss  to 
explain  its  auxiliary,  and  can  no  longer  say  with  grammarians 
that  aller  takes  the  auxiliary  etre  because  it  expresses  a state 
or  condition  ; as  if  any  verb  could  express  more  clearly  an 
action  than  the  verb  aller.  This  verb  was  used,  first,  in  the 
reflexive  form  with  en : s' en  aller ; secondly,  in  the  reflexive 
form  without  en : s' alter ; thirdly,  in  the  so-called  neuter 
form  with  en:  en  aller ; fourthly,  in  the  so-called  neuter  form 
without  en : aller. 


52 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  23 

Examples  of  the  Firs'!. 

Petrus  dalo  fors  s’en  aled Pass.  Chr. . . . 197 

Tot  s’en  vait  declinant Alexis  ....  9 

Puis  s’en  alat  en  Alsis  la  cite Alexis  ....  86 

Com  s’en  alat  et  com  il  s’en  revint Alexis  ....  285 

Franc  s’en  iront Roland  ...  50 

Li  empereire  s’envait  desuz  un  pin Roland  . . . 168 

Que  en  France  m’en  alge Roland  . . . 187 

S’en  vait  a son  ostel Roland  . . . 342 

S’en  est  alez  li  reis Roland  . . . 501 

Et  lors  li  consaus  s’en  rala  parler  an  Soudanc  ....  Joinville  . . . 186 

Et  vous  commandons  que  vous  ralez  vers  notre  Seignour  . Joinville  . . . 248 

Signor,  je  m’en  vois  outre  mer Joinville  ...  64 

Examples  of  the  Second. 

Que  a pou  se  ala  que  il  ne  nous  afondrerent  en  l’yaue  . Joinville  . . . 168 

Examples  of  the  Third. 

Et  en  alat  en  Alsis  la  citet  Alexis  ....  382 

Alez  en  est  en  un  vergier Roland  ...  1 1 

Desuz  un  pin  en  est  li  roi  alez Roland  . . . 165 

Seignurs  vous  en  irez Roland  . . . 360 

Li  Rois  d’Ermine  en  ala  au  roy  des  Tartarins  ....  Joinville  ...  78 

Tu  en  iras  a ton  roy  . ‘ . Joinville  . . . 264 

Il  en  ala  grant  pas  par  mi  son  vessel Joinville  ...  88 

Et  bien  toute  la  voie  que  li  connestable  et  je  en  alames 

amont Joinville  . . . 136 

Si  nous  en  irons  tuit  en  paradis Joinville  . . . 174 

Qui  en  fut  alez  apres  les  Sarrazins Joinville  , . . 108 

Examples  of  the  Fourth. 

1st  de  la  nef  e vait  edrant  a Rome Alexis  . . . . 21 1 

Est  alez  conquerant Roland  . . . 553 

Si  l’est  alez  ferir 

Tant  que  il  veist  que  sa  chevalerie  feroit,  qui  aloit  a terre  . Joinville  ...  6 

Mais  je  dont  se  je  aloie  vers  vous Joinville  . . . 216 

Car  nous  sommes  alei  contre  le  commandement  Mahomet  Joinville  . . . 202 

Car  vous  estes  alei  la  sus  sans  mon  commandement  . . Joinville  . . . 316 

Qui  avoit  appelei  contre  li  et  estoit  alez  a Rome  . . . Joinville  . . . 370 

Cf.  Italian  andarsene , andarne , andarse , andare. 

Examples  of  the  First. 

Tu  te  ne  andasti  e si  rimase  seco Petrar.  S.  . . . 204 

Secando  se  ne  va  1’  antica  prora Dante  Inf.  VIII.  29 

Ora  sen  va  per  uno  stretto  calle  Dante  Inf.  X.  1 


53 


24 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Vattene  omai Dante  Purg.  XIX.  139 

L’  una  gente  s’  en  va  l’altra  s’  en  viene Dante  Purg.  XXVI.  46 

Di  Tebaida  andati  se  n’  erano Bocc.  Dec.  . . 3.  9 

Examples  of  the  Second. 

E in  su  una  sua  nave  . . . n’  ando  in  Cipri Bocc.  Dec.  . . 3.  7 

II  peregrino  tantosto  n’  ando  a quattro  fratelli  ....  Bocc.  Dec.  . . 3.  7 

Sappiendo  verso  che  parte  n’  era  la  fregata  andata  . . Bocc.  Dec.  . . 5.  6 


Examples  of  the  Third. 

E s’  andarono  tutti  alio  cortiglio 
Ma  vassi  alia  via  sua  . . . 

Examples  of  the  Fourth. 

Da  Foggia  andao  le  Re Matteo  Spinelli  1093 

Remark.  Alter  was  sometimes  also  conjugated  with  the. 
auxiliary  avoir , just  as  formerly  in  Italian,  and  now  in  Span- 
ish. Compare 

Quant  j’oi  un  poi  avant  ale Roman  de  la  Rose  5 

(Ital.)  Egli  a andato  a lui  (common  speech). 

With  arriver , je  suis  arrive  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis 


arrive. 

(Arriver  used  as  active  verb.} 

Cil  a sa  nef  apareilee;  entrent  dedenz 

II  les  mena  tant  qu’al  rocher  les  arriva Greg,  le  Gr.  . . 104 

(Arriver  used  as  reflexive  verb.} 

S’en  alia  outremer  . . . et  s’ariva  a Acre Chron.  d’outr. 

Et  ayant  dit  cela  s’arriva  contre  le  corps  en  la  fosse  . . Matt,  de  Coucy  . 738 

Compare  Italian  arrivarsi. 


With  entrer,  je  suis  entre  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis  entre. 


Si  s’  en  intrat  en  un  moustier St.  Leger  ...  66 

As  porz  d’Espeigne  s’en  est  entre  Rolant Ronceval  ...  14 

Compare  Italian  : — 

Non  potea  riveder  d’  ond’  io  m’  entrassi Purgatorio  XXVIII.  24 

Da  lui  ne  dall’  amor  che  in  lor  s’  entrea Parad.  XIII.  . . 57 

Ignudi  amenduni  se  n’  entrarono  nel  bagno Bocc.  Dec.  . . 8.  10 

54 


Matteo  Spinelli  1093 
Purg.  XXV.  . . 5 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  25 


Compare  Provencal : — 

Ab  aquestas  paraulas  lo  rey  s’en  es  intratz. 


With  mourir , je  suis  mort  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis  mort. 


Por  0 s furet  morte  a grant  honestet 

Eulalie. 

11  se  fut  morz,  dam  i fud  granz 

51 

Et  disoit  que  li  ennemis  si  soutilz  que  quand  les  gens  se 
meurent,  il  se  travaille  tant  comme  il  puet  que  il 
les  puisse  faire  mourir 

Joinville  . . . 

24 

E alors  elle  se  pasma,  et  cuida  l’on  qu’elle  fut  morte  et 
li  Roys  qui  cuida  qu’elle  se  mourust  retourna  . . 

Joinville  . . . 

332 

Qu’ele  li  dist  qu’il  li  donroit 

S’amor,  ou  ele  se  morroit 

Roman  de  la  Rose 

48 

Les  uns  mouroient  sans  parler  les  autres  se  mourroient 
en  parlant 

Rabelais 

Here  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  Old 

French  uses 

se 

mourir  in  Eulalie  and  St.  Leger  to  express  the  very  act  of 
dying,  whereas  in  modern  French  se  mourir  means  'to  be 
agonizing  ’ ( Madame  se  meurt , Madame  est  morte.  — Bossuet). 
Both  meanings  are  found  in  Joinville  (see  above).  A very 
important  fact  to  notice  is  that  mourir  could  be  used  not 
only  as  a reflexive  verb,  but  also  as  an  active  verb ; and  that 
not  only  in  the  French,  but  in  all  the  Romance  languages. 
Fittre,  in  his  long  article  on  mourir>  says  nothing  about  the 
active  meaning  of  this  verb. 

Or  veez  vous  bien  que  je  vous  eusse  bien  mort,  si  je 

vousisse 

Toute  voiz  ce  ne  leur  eust  riens  valu  que  li  Turc  ne  les 

eussent  touz  mors  ou  champ 

Mes  ce  m’a  mort  que  poi  me  dure 

Or  se  ce  non  vous  m’avez  morte 

Compare  Italian  : — 

Ne  necessity  conviene  que  la  gentilissima  Beatrice  alcuna 

volte  si  muoi 

Per  una  donna  que  s’  era  morta 

Per  paura  morte  s’  erano 

E dopo  alcun  di  arrabiato  si  mori 

Ettore  avendo  morti  grandissima  quantita  di  Greci  . . 

I quali  furono  morti  et  cacciati 

Muorsi  si  subito  nelle  sue  braccia 


Joinville  . . . 348 

Joinville  . . . 152 

Roman  de  la  Rose  81 
Roman  de  la  Rose  1 88 


Vita  Nuova  XXIII. 
Vita  Nuova  XXXIII. 
Bocc.  Dec.  . . 2.  7 

Dino  Compagni  . 506 

Ricardo  Mai.  . 885 

Ricardo  Mai.  . 996 

Bocc.  Dec.  . . 3.  6 


55 


26 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Nella  sua  vista,  e cotal  si  moria Purg.  XVII. 

Sanar  le  piaghe  c’  hanno  Italia  morta Purg.  VII. 

Per  lo  giusto  disdegno  che  v’  ha  morti Parad.  XVI. 

Compare  Provencal : — 

Quar  non  puesc  vezer  qui  t’a  mort. 


27 

95 

[37 


With  naitrc,  je  sins  ne  is  equivalent  to  je  me  snis  n£. 

Et  s’est  nee  et  estraite  de  si  bonne  lignee Bert.  . . . 


72 


Compare  the  Wallachian,  where  naitre  is  only  reflexive. 

Eu  m’am  nascut  la  anul  i860. 


With  partir,  je  suis  parti  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis  parti. 

Et  quant  li  frere  s’en  furent  parti 

Que  oncques  ne  s’osa  partir  tant  que  il  fut  accordet  au 

conte  de  la  marche 

Et  lors  je  me  parti  de  Joinville  sanz  rentrer  ou  chastel 

jusques  a ma  revenue 

Mai  apertement  se  partirent  li  Turc  de  Diamiete  . . 

Mort  le  trebuche,  l’ame  s’en  est  partie 

La  parole  est  finee  et  li  conseil  se  part 

Se  partit  du  diet  lieu 

Se  furent  de  Israel  partiz 

Dont  il  s’estoient  folement  parti 

Et  se  partent  des  cors  les  ames 

Compare  Italian  : — 

Poiche  la  gentilissima  donna  fu  partita  . . . 

Messer  Francesco  de  Loffredo  partio  de  Tarento 
Alcuni  si  sono  partiti  del  suo  proprio  parlare  . 

Che  riguardasse  se  partito  si  fosse 

Rimanete  con  Dio  che  io  mi  parto 

Quando  tre  ombre  insieme  si  partiro  .... 

With  tomber , je  suis  tombe  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis  tombe. 

I was  unable  to  find  a reflexive  example  of  tomber. 
Du  Cange  says:  “ tumber  vero  active  sumitur  pro  dejicere, 
vulgo  faire  tomber.”  Hence,  if  tomber  was  used  formerly  as 
a transitive  verb,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  it  could 
not  have  been  used  as  a reflexive  verb. 

56 


Joinville  . . . 

14 

Joinville  . . . 

56 

Joinville  . . . 

68 

Joinville  . . . 

90 

Rone 

58 

Saxe  XXIX. 

Pantagruel  II.  . 

5 

Livre  des  R.  . . 

48 

Guillaume  de  Tyr. 

103 

Roman  de  la  Rose 

246 

Vita  Nuova  XXX. 

Matteo  Spinelli  . 

1605 

Della  Volg.  Eloq. 

731 

Bocc.  Dec.  . . 

i-  7 

Bocc.  Dec.  . . 

4..  1 

Infer.  XVI.  . . 

4 

Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages . 27 


Instances  of  tomber  used  as  a transitive  verb  : — ■ 

Mes  la  contraire  et  la  perverse 
Quant  de  leur  grant  estat  les  verse 

Et  les  tombe  autor  de  sa  roe Du  Cange. 

Icellui  Giraut  donna  au  dit  Manson  un  si  grand  coup  sur 

l’espaule  qu’il  le  tomba  par  trois  fois  en  la  charriere  Du  Cange. 

Puis  le  tombent  en  un  fosse Roman  de  la  Rose  52 

Now  it  is  clear  that  Voltaire,  in  saying,  “Eut  tombe  dans 
le  piege,”  was  not  wrong,  since  the  verb  tomber  is  conjugated 
with  the  auxiliary  avoir  in  Old  French,  and  bears  an  active 
meaning.  The  sentence  of  Voltaire,  though  obsolete  in  the 
time  he  wrote,  had  nothing  wrong  in  itself. 

With  venir , je  suis  venu  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis  venu . 

The  reflexive  form  of  this  verb  is  generally  found  in  con- 
nection with  en.  But  se  venir  and  s’  en  venir  must  be  re- 
garded, just  as  s en  alter  and  s alter  were  regarded  ; that  is  to 
say,  en  does  not  change  the  reflexive  nature  of  venir  and 
aller , but  when  that  en  is  found  in  a sentence  in  connection 
with  venir  and  alter,  it  controls  and  necessitates  in  most 
cases  the  use  of  the  reflexive  form,  which,  however,  is  per- 
fectly independent  of  it.  It  is  only  necessary  to  compare 
the  instances  cited  above,  of  s'  aller,  and  the  Italian  venirse, 
or  venirne,  and  venirsene. 

Ma  viensi  per  veder  le  vostre  pene Inf.  XII.  ...  21 

Ma  vienne  omai  che  gia  tiene ’1  confine Inf.  XX.  . . . 124 

Venir  sen  deve  giu  tra’  miei  meschini Inf.  XXVII.  . . 115 

L’  un  poco  sovra  noi  a star  si  venne Purg.  VIII.  . . 31 

Sen  venne  suso  ed  io  per  le  su’  orme Purg.  IX.  . . 60 

Io  mi  vengo  a star  un  po  teco 

Si  vinse  il  peggiore Ricardo  Mai.  . 990 

Ove  in  Leone  ad  incontrar  si  venne  Orlando  ....  Orl.  Furi.  . . 46.  21 

Let  us  now  examine  a few  of  those  verbs  that  take  either 
etre  or  avoir,  according  to  their  peculiar  meaning,  as  gramma- 
rians say.  I hold,  on  the  contrary,  that  when  those  neuter 
verbs  take  etre,  they  are  purely  elliptical  reflexive  verbs,  just 
as  those  of  the  above  list ; and  that  when  they  take  avoir, 
they  follow  the  general  tendency  of  development  that  pushed 
the  Romance  verbal-system  towards  an  active  auxiliary.  The 
Old  French  used  such  forms  as  etre  apparu  and  etre  peri  very 

57 


2 8 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


frequently,  whereas  the  modern  French  avoids  them  and 
generally  prefers  the  active  auxiliary  form. 

With  apparaitre , je  suis  apparu  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis 
apparu. 

Si  s’aparust  et  sor  mon  chief  me  mist  sa  main  ....  Rom.  delaR.  10,347 

Tout  fust  il  ainsi  que  nus  ne  se  fust  aparus  contre  eux  . Beau 54 

La  deesse  Vesta  s’apparust  a lui Amyot.  Rom.  . 4 

Jesus  Christ  glorieux  s’apparut Flechier. 

L’ange  du  seigneur  s’apparut  a lui Volt.  Phil.  V.  .110 

De  rechef  s’apparut  Dieu  en  Silo Livre  de  Rois  I. 

Saint  Andrius  apareuz  a lui Guill.  de  Tyr.  . 208 

With  cesser , la  pluie  est  cesse'e  is  equivalent  to  la  pluie  s'  est 
cessee. 

Quand  ce  cri  fut  repandu  parmi  l’ost  tous  se  cesserent  . Froissard  II.  . . 215 

Je  me  veux  cesser  de  parler  de  faitz  d’Angleterre  . . . Commine  . . . 3.  7 

With  croitre , la  riviere  est  erne  is  equivalent  to  la  riviere 
s est  erne. 

The  only  example  found  of  se  croitre  is  in  Lacurne’s  Dic- 
tionary. Se  croistre,  he  says,  is  used  for  s'  accroitre  in  Perard’s 
Histoire  de  Bourgogne.  Very  likely  the  reflexive  use  of 
croistre  has  been  transmitted  to  the ’compound  s' accroitre. 
Compare  the  active  use  of  crescere  in  Italian. 

Madama  voi  dalla  poverth  di  mio  padre  . . . come  figliuola 

cresciuta  m’  avete Bocc.  Dec.  . . 2.  8 

E che  piii  volte  v’  ha  cresciuta  doglia Inf.  IX.  ...  96 

With  demeurer , je  suis  demeure  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis 
d erne  ure. 

The  first  meaning  of  demeurer  was  to  ‘stop  at,’  to  ‘delay.’ 
(See  instances  of  se  demeurer  in  Lacurne’s  Dictionary.) 

E si  li  estoient  chil  doy  roy  si  prochain  que  a envis  s’en 

mesloit  et  a envis  s’en  demoroit  . . . «,  . . Froissard  II.  . . 481 


Compare  Italian  dimorarsi : — 


Mi  sono  dimorato  in  Parigi  sei  anni. 


58 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  29 

t 

With  descendre , je  suis  descendu  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis 
descendu. 

Si  se  descendirent  et  se  firent  leurs  logis  sur  ces  beaux  pres 

sur  la  riviere  de  Dordogne Froissard  II.  . . 3 

Et  loerent  au  roy  que  il  se  descendit  de  la  nef  Ik  ou  il  estoit  Joinville  . . . 342 
II  n’y  avoit  en  la  mer  ilecques  pres  ancun  port  la  oii  il  se 

peut  descendre Joinville  ...  28 

With  courir,  je  suis  couru  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis  count. 

We  have  seen  that  Racine’s  expression,/ 'y  suis  couru , has 
been  condemned  by  grammarians.  But  M.  Littre,  in  his 
Dictionary,  has  justified  the  great  poet  in  the  following  man- 
ner : “ Les  Grammairiens  condamnent  cet  emploi  et  disent 
que  courir  exprimant  une  action  ne  peut  recevoir  l’auxiliaire 
etre.  Mais  venir  exprime  aussi  une  action  et  ne  s’en  con- 
jugue  pas  moins  avec  l’auxiliaire  etre.  Ici  encore  l’usage  est 
pour  l’auxiliaire  avoir.  L’auxiliaire  etre  est  tres  peu  usite, 
mais  il  est  egalement  correct,  dans  l’ancienne  langue  il  etait 
de  plein  usage.”  Here  M.  Littre  recognizes  the  fact  that 
the  auxiliary  etre  is  as  justifiable  as  the  auxiliary  avoir  in  that 
neuter  verb,  and  that  everything  depends  on  usage,  — rather, 

I should  say,  on  the  development  of  the  language,  as  it  is 
very  clearly  seen  in  the  case  of  venir  and  coitrir.  Conse- 
quently M.  Littre  ought  not  to  defend,  as  he  does  everywhere 
in  his  Dictionary,  the  idea  of  grammarians  who  say  that 
neuter  verbs  are  conjugated  with  etre  when  they  express  a 
state  or  condition,  and  with  avoir  when  they  express  an 
action.  The  rules  of  grammarians  are  rules  of  assertion  and 
not  of  investigation,  made  for  the  present  stage  of  the  lan- 
guage without  any  reference  to  the  past.  Hence  such  rules 
are  not  always  observed  by  great  writers,  nor  by  the  people 
either.  Racine  was  right  in  that  particular  instance,  and, 
according  to  our  own  theory,  j'y  suis  count  stands  for  je  my 
suis  couru.  Compare  the  Old  French  : — 

Roland  regarde  puis  (se)  lui  est  couru Roland  . . . 153 

Chascuns  y est  couru  la  merveille  esgarder Berthe  III. 

Ils  se  coururent  sus  l’espee  au  poing Montaigne  I. . . 256 

II  s’en  court  en  disant : A Diep  me  recommande  . . . Regnier  St.  XI. 

Le  pauvre  homme  s’en  courut La  Fontaine. 


59 


30 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 

4 

With  disparaitre , je  snis  disparu  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis 
disparu. 

J.  J.  Rousseau’s  La  modestie  du  sexe  est  disparue pen  a peu 
is  equivalent  to  s est  disparue  peu  d peu.  Compare  also 
Calvin  : — 

Jesus  Christ  ne  s’est  point  fait  invisible  mais  seulement  s’est  disparu. 

Hence  se  disparaitre  was  used  even  in  the  Middle  French, 
and  the  grammarians  have  condemned  Rousseau  wrongly,  as 
they  ought  to  have  seen  in  his  supposed  mistake  a remnant 
of  the  old  style. 

With  monter , je  suis  monte  is  equivalent  to  je  me  s?iis  monte. 

Si  vint  tout  ik  pied  Messire  Herve  jusqu’a  Abbeville,  la  se 

monterent Froissard  II.  . . 214 

With  passer , je  suis  passe'  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis  passe. 

Outre  s’en  passe . . Rone 65 

Si  tost  comme  il  le  sot  il  1’alla  querre,  il  s’en  passa  sans 

amende Beau.  XX.  . . 57 

With  perir,  je  suis  peri  is  equivalent  to  je  me  suis  peri. 

Perir  was  used  in  the  Old  French  in  the  active  voice,  as 


well  as  mourir.  Compare  : — 

Pour  Dieu  ne  perissons  mie  la  grant  honeur  que  notre  sire 

nous  a faite Villehard.  LXXXIX. 

Tellement  qu’elles  perissent  tout  ce  qui  se  trouve  en  ce 

destroit Du  Bellay  IX.  . 296 

Sire,  ces  seigneurs  qui  ci  sont  arcevesques,  evesques  m’ont 

dit  que  je  vous  deisse  que  la  crestiente  se  perit  . Joinville  . . . 200 


Thus  have  I tried  in  the  preceding  pages  to  find  instances 
in  which  verbs  now  used  as  neuter  were  formerly  reflexive 
and  therefore  conjugated  with  the  auxiliary  etre.  Such  in- 
stances certainly  suggest  a more  satisfactory  solution  of  the 
question  of  the  use  of  auxiliaries  in  neuter  verbs  than  the  one 
proposed  by  grammarians  and  M.  Littre,  especially  by  the 
latter  when  he  says  of  perir , “avec  l’auxiliaire  Hre,  perir 
exprime  plus  particulierement  l’etat,  mais  cette  nuance  n’est 

60 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  31 

pas  toujours  observee.”  It  appears,  on  the  contrary,  that 
with  the  auxiliary  etre,  perir , as  well  as  all  the  other  verbs 
examined  above,  is  of  reflexive  origin,  and  that  with  avoir 
they  constitute  a development  towards  active  forms.  All 
shades'  of  meaning  attributed  to  neuter  verbs  in  modern 
French,  according  as  they  are  conjugated  with  avoir  or  with 
etre , may  be  assigned  not  only  to  a refinement  of  thought  and 
of  style,  but  also  to  the  subtle  distinctions  of  grammarians. 

In  the  above  considerations  I have  taken  account  only  of 
such  neuter  verbs  as  either  retain  etre  exclusively,  or  take 
both  etre  and  avoir , making  no  mention  whatever  of  those 
conjugated  with  avoir  alone.  A couple  of  instances  will  show 
that  those  also  were  used  reflexively. 

Dormir : — 

Charles  se  dort  qu’il  ne  s’esveillet  mie Rol 724 

Pleurer : — 

Amarement  mult  se  ploret  Pass,  du  Christ  . 198 

II.  A uxiliaries  used  with  Intransitive  Verbs  in  Italian. 

Since  the  Italian  system  of  conjugating  the  neuter  verbs 
presents  about  the  same  character  as  that  of  the  French,  I 
have  thought  proper  in  the  preceding  to  bring  such  parallel 
instances  of  Italian  as  I might  find  directly  under  those  of 
the  French.  This  was  done  to  illustrate  the  one  language 
by  the  other,  and  to  bring  stronger  proofs  to  my  assertion 
that  neuter  verbs  conjugated  with  esse  in  either  of  these  lan- 
guages are  merely  remnants  of  reflexive  verbs  elliptically  ex- 
pressed. I may  add  here  that  in  Italian  authors  like  Matteo 
Spinelli,  Ricordamo  Malespini,  Dino  Compagni,  Dante,  Boc- 
caccio, and  Ariosto,  this  alternating  use  of  elliptical  reflexives 
with  full  reflexive  verbs  is  more  frequent  than  in  any  French 
author  I have  read. 

The  Italian  still  uses  the  auxiliary  essere  with  a few  neuter 
verbs,  where,  the  French  now  uses  the  auxiliary  avoir.  I 
have  found  two  striking  instances  of  such  - difference  in 
fuggire  and  vivere. 


6 1 


32 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Sono  fnggito  is  equivalent  to  mi  sono  faggito. 

Compare  : — 

S’  erano  fuggiti Hist.  Fior.  Bk.  IV.  40 

La  o altrove  si  fosse  fuggito Bocc.  Dec.  . . 2.  2 

Ridendo  gli  contarono  perche  s’  eran  fuggiti  ....  Bocc.  Dec.  . . 2.  5 

Compare : — 

S’en  estait  fulz Guill.  de  Tyr.  . 468 

Lesquels  estoient  fuis Rab.  Garg.  . 41.276 

Sono  vissuto  is  equivalent  to  mi  sono  vissuto. 


Compare  : — 

Numitore  si  vivette  nel  suo  campo Ricord.  Mai.  . . 886 

Gli  nomini  si  vivono  quietamente Machiavelli  del  Pr.  III. 

La  donna  onestamente  con  lui  si  visse Bocc.  Dec.  . *3-9 

Gia  mi  vivea  di  mia  sorte  felice Orlando  F.  . 13.  5 

Non  so,  risposi  lui,  quant’  io  mi  viva Purg.  XXIV.  . 76 


Compare  Old  French  : — 

Par  les  pasture  de  quoi  ils  se  vivent Guill.  de  Tyr.  . 77 

S’il  n’a  dont  il  se  puisse  vivre Roman  de  la  Rose  19 

Et  se  font  povre  et  si  se  vivent Roman  dela  Rose  5 

III.  A uxiliaries  used  with  Intransitive  Verbs  in  Spanish . 

Just  as  we  saw  the  Spanish  using  two  verbs  to  indicate 
possession,  so  we  shall  find  that  it  makes  use  of  two  different 
verbs  to  indicate  existence  : esse  and  stare.  As  to  the  rela- 
tion of  esse  to  stare , I shall  refer  to  page  16,  where  the  rela- 
tion between  the  F rench  imperfects  ere  and  estoie  was  spoken 
of.  The  Latin  stare  furnished  all  the  forms  of  the  Spanish 
estar,  but  esse  did  not  furnish  those  of  ser  in  the  same  meas- 
ure. The  infinite  esse  and  the  subjunctive  sim  have  been 
lost  in  Spanish,  and  the  corresponding  forms,  sedere  and 
sedeam , have  been  taken  from  a verb  whose  transferred 
meaning  denotes  existence,  just  as  stare  does.  In  the  oldest 
documents  of  the  Spanish  no  traces  of  esse  and  sim  can  be 
found,  and  if  those  forms  were  used  at  all,  it  must  have  been 
at  a period  antedating  those  documents. 

62 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  33 
Compare  : — 

Bien  seya  castigado Vida  de  Santa  M.  Eygp. 


Seya  dixeron  todos  puesto  e otorgado 

Devie  seyer  en  vida  tal  ome  adorado Libre  d’App 91 

Devemos  seyer  todos  firmes  en  la  sua  tenencia  . Libre  d’App 93 


It  is,  in  fact,  a question  whether,  in  Old  Spanish,  the  whole 
verb  sedere  Was  not  used  in  all  its  tenses  to  denote  existence, 
for  besides  the  infinitive  sedere  and  the  present  subjunctive 
sedeam  and  also  the  gerund  sedendo , I have  found  instances 
of  the  indicative  present  sedeo , and  especially  of  the  imperfect 


sedebam. 

De  san  Millan  criado  en  la  su  merced  seo  ....  Vida  de  St.  Dom.  . . 757 

Sennores  e amigos  quantos  aqui  seemos Est.  de  St.  Millan  . 317 

Mientre  que  esta  duenna  en  tal  caita  sedie ....  Vide  d.  S.  D.  d.  S.  . 562 

La  casa  de  Onorio  que  sedie  escarnida Est.  de  S.  Mill.  . . 198 

Como  era  mal  apriso  sedie  fuert  embargado  . . . Est.  de  S.  Mill.  . . 333 

Sedie  una  eglesia  non  mueho  aredrada Milag.  de  N.  S.  . . 415 

Sus  gentes  mui  devotas  sedien  en  oracion  ....  Milag.  de  N.  S.  . . 415 

Quando  esta  palabra  udieron  los  trufanos 

Que  sedien  mas  rabioscs  que  carniceros  canes  . . Duelo  de  la  Virg.  . 39 

Seyendo  aun  el  rey  en  la  batalla Chro.  del  Rey  Alp.  X.  52 

Seven  do  estas  companias  llegadas Chro.  del  Rey  Alp.  X.  27 

Hy  sedie  una  mesa  de  cobre  bien  labrada  ....  Sacrif.  de  la  Misa  . 9- 


Now,  if  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Spanish  ser  is  a 
contracted  form  of  sedere , and  that  the  future  sere  is  for 
sedere  habeo , could  not  the  French  serai  be  derived  from 
the  same  source ; and  ought  not  estrai  to  be  considered 
as  the  only  form  coming  from  essere  habeo  f Compare 
page  1 6. 

After  these  few  remarks  about  ser  and  estar , it  will  be 
shown  how  they  were  used  in  the  oldest  period  of  the 
Spanish  language. 

It  is  recognized  that  in  Spanish  ser  expresses  what  is  essen- 
tial and  permanent,  whereas  estar  expresses  an  accidental  and 
transitory  state.  Indeed,  this  distinction  may  be  observed  to 
have  existed  from  the  recorded  beginning  of  the  language. 
There  may  be  some  instances  in  which  the  difference  is  not 
observed  ; but,  I dare  say,  they  are  very  few. 

63 


34 


J«  A.  Fontaine , 


Ser.  Estar. 

El  Libro  de  los  Reyes  d''  Orient. 

Tu  que  major  e mejor  eres. 

Dios  es  sin  dubdanza. 

Vida  de  Santa  Maria  Egipciaca. 

Fija  tu  eres  de  gran  natura.  Porque  estas  en  mala  natura. 

Di  me  donde  eres.  O como  estas. 

El  Libre  d’  Appolonio . 

Tu  eres  la  raiz,  tu  fija  el  cimal.  Antiocho  estando  en  tamanya  error. 

Rev  yo  fui  esse  e fuy  verdadero.  Estaba  en  tal  guisa. 

Mientre  ellos  estaban  en  esta  encencia. 
Dixo  el  marinero  que  en  somo  estaba. 
Las  ondas  mas  pagadas  estar  no  podien. 
Desuyo  le  sangre  que  estaba  enagada. 
No  sabie  do  estaba. 

Poema  d' Alexandro  Magno. 

Tornal  como  se  fusse  su  mortal  Que  escusa  non  ayas  porque  estas 

enemiga 2193  desarmado 123 

Quando  estas  irado  as  fiera  cata- 

dura 212 

Que  estaban  lidiando  a una  gran 
pressura 500 

El  Poema  del  Cid. 

Yo  so  Ruiz  Dias 721  Estando  en  la  cruz 351 

Tres  reyes  veo  de  moros  derredor 
do  mi  estar. 

Cronica  del  Rey  Alfonso  X. 

Veyendo  como  era  de  tan  poco  e a los  que  estaban  y con  el  . . X. 

poder II.  a Toledo  do  estaba  el  Rey  Alfonso. 

Entonces  era  vivo  el  rey  don 

Jaimes VIII. 

Que  era  tuerto  de  un  ojo  . . . XIII. 

La  Vida  del  Lazarillo  de  Tormes. 

Quien  ere  su  padre.  para  los  que  estaban  de  parto. 

Era'huerfano.  pensando  que  yo  estaba  enten- 

Ser  la  misma  avaricia,  diendo 14 

64 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  35 


Ser. 


Don  Quixote. 


Estar. 


Que  era  hombre  docto  ....  I. 
Aquel  idolo  de  Mahoma  que  era 


todo  de  oro I. 

Hombre  que  por  ser  muy  gordo 
era  muy  pacifico II. 


Estaba  confuso  mirando  lo  . . III. 

El  estaba  alii  pronto  paro  obede- 
cerle. 

cuando  estaba  muy  cansado  . . V. 


Now  let  us  consider  ser  and  habere  intransitive  auxiliaries. 
The  Spanish  conjugated  its  neuter  verbs  or  its  elliptical  re- 
flexives with  ser  and  haber , mostly  with  ser , till  the  beginning 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  when  haber  began,  little  by  little, 
to  supersede  ser , and  at  last,  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  completely  displaced  it.  It  was  about  the  same 
period  of  time  that  haber  ceased  to  be  considered  as  a prin- 
cipal verb ; so  that  we  may  consider  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century  as  the  period  when  the  tendencies  of  the 
Spanish  language  to  use  haber  became  exclusive. 


Ser.  Haber. 

El  Libro  de  los  Reyes  d'  Orient. 

a Jesu  Christo  que  era  nado.  Quando  Erodes  sopo. 

El  angel  fue  a el  venido.  Que  por  hi  non  le  han  venido. 

Vida  de  Santa  Maria  Egipciaca. 

En  Alexandria  es  venida. 

En  tal  hora  hi  fue  entrada. 

Quando  fue  passada. 

A1  monasterio  son  tornados. 


El  Libre 

Ya  es  del  siglo  passado. 
porque  era  hi  venido. 

Si  entonces  fuesse  mortuo. 


n Appolonio. 

Porque  por  muchas  tierras  no  avia  an- 
dado. 

Avian  de  la  marina  gran  partida  an- 
dada. 

Quando  toda  la  hove  la  ribera  andada. 


Poema  de  Alexandro  Magno. 

El  infante  fue  venido  ....  107  Avie  tan  fiera  lluvia  ante  noche 

passada 

Alegre  fue  el  rey  quando  fue  ar- 
ribado 272 

65 


1883 


36 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Ser.  Haber. 

El  Poem  a del  Cid. 

Car  por  il  agua  a passado  . . . 150 


Cronica  del  Rey  don  Alfonso  X. 


E soy  aqui  venida  a pedirle 

ayuda  

XVII. 

Era  venido  a recebir  .... 

XVIII. 

Despues  que  Don  Nuno  fue 

Dos  caballeros  hermanos  que 

partido  ....... 

24 

havian  passado 

63 

Seyendo  estas  companias  lle- 

Aquel  camino  que  aveva  ido  antes 

77 

gadas 

27 

Supo  de  commo  Aben  Yuzaf 

era  passado 

62 

Romancero  del  Cid. 

A tiempo  eres  venido. 

Cuatro  veces  he  venido  .... 

16 

Amigos  salidos  somos  . . . 

. 119 

Un  romero  habia  llegado. 

Por  su  tiempo  es  pasado  . . 

• 93 

Y lides  do  habeis  entrado  . . . 

46 

Nuevas  al  Cid  son  venidas . . 

. 187 

Venido  han  en  perdicion  . . . 

46 

Until  now,  neuter  verbs  conjugated  with  haber  and  ser 
have  been  found,  but  hereafter  the  auxiliary  haber  is  univer- 
sally met  in  compound  tenses  of  neuter  verbs. 


Hurtado  de  Mendoza . 

El  qual  habia  muerto  en  la  batalla.  10 
Mucha  gente  que  le  habia  ido  a 

socorrer 30 

los  dias  que  no  habia  muerto. 
de  mi  amo  habia  ido  fuera  del 

lugar 37 

porque  no  podria  menos  de  haber 

caido 47 

Etc. 

Antonio  de  Solis. 

Creyendo  que  ...  la  voz  que 


habia  corrido III. 

Cuyo  suceso  habia  llegado  ya  a 

stf VI. 

la  brujula  y carta  que  habian 

decaido XIV. 


66 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  37 


Ser.  Haber. 

Don  Quixote . 


No  habia  pasado  de  hidalgo  . V. 

Esta  noche  me  ha  sucedido 

una  de  las  mas XVII. 

El  miedo  que  habia  entrado 
en  su  corazon. 

he  ya  que  hemos  caido  en  sos- 

pecho XXIII. 

al  cual  ya  habia  venido  . . XXIV. 


Las  Mocedades  del  Cid. 


He  venido.  Ha  venido?  He 
venido. 

Ya  he  caido  en  tu  pesar  . . . 1574 


To  come  back  to  my  theory  and  prove  that  the  above 
neuter  verbs  are  merely  elliptical  reflexives,  I shall  give  a 
few  instances  where  the  same  verbs  are  used  as  full  reflec- 
tives.  For  example:  — 


Estos  reyes  son  se  tornados 

Quando  desto  te  avras  partido 

No  pudo  estar  que  non  se  iria 

El  obispo  don  iheronimo  se  entrava 

Entraron  se  en  la  cibdad 

Y de  secreto  se  ha  ido 

Encendieron  su  fuego  que  se  les  era  muerto 

De  mi  mal  se  parte 

Ya  se  iban  las  naves 

Si  de  nos  non  te  partes  avras  mal  ventura 

Que  se  iba  para  Burgos 

Commo  do  Fernando  se  venia 

Los  moros  que  se  iban  con  el 


Reyes  d’Orient. 
Santa  M.  Eg. 
Santa  M.  Eg. 


iglesia 

Que  de  mi  y de  ellos  se  habio  ido 

Para  el  gafe  se  venia.  En  terra  se  descendia  . 

Mas  en  castillo  se  entraba 

A vos  me  vengo 

Se  habia  venido  a recoger  aquel  su  castello  . 
Donde  vieron  que  se  habia  entrado  .... 


. Poema  del  Cid  . . 

1579 

. Poema  del  Cid  . . 

2896 

. Romancero  del  Cid  . 

VII. 

. Libre  d’Ap.  . . . 

K/\ 

00 

. Alexandro  .... 

118 

. Alexandro. 

. Alexandro  .... 

120 

. Alf.  X 

8 

. Alf.  X 

66 

. Alf.  X 

74 

la 

. Vida  del  Lazar.  . . 

55 

La  vida  del  Lazar.  . 

85 

. Rom.  del  Cid . . . 

XXII. 

. Rom.  del  Cid . . . 

3i 

. Rom.  del  Cid. 

. Rom.  del  Cid. 

. Rom.  del  Cid . . . 

15 

67 


38 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


IV.  Auxiliaries  used  with  Intransitive  Verbs  in  Portuguese. 

It  has  been  shown  above  that  in  Spanish  ser  expresses 
what  is  essential  and  permanent,  whereas  estar  expresses  an 
accidental  and  transitory  state.  The  same  thing  is  true 
of  the  corresponding  auxiliaries  in  Portuguese,  and  a rapid 
glance  at  the  earliest  and  most  important  written  documents 
of  the  Portuguese  language  will  be  proof  sufficient  that  such 
is  the  case. 


Ser.  Estar. 

Canzoniere  Portoghese. 

Si  foss  eu  rey 37  Poys  ante  vos  estou  aqui  . . . 141 


mays  de  tato  seede  sabedor  . . 1220 

Har dung's  Romanceiro  Portuguez. 

Era  esse  dom  Beltrao 6 como  estas  bem  assentada. 

Pensando  que  era  verdade  . . .31  Chegando  aonde  elle  estava  . . 10 

tu  es  uma  mana  minha  ....  64  Zamora  estava  cercada  ....  17 

ja  esta  vain  en  mar  largo. 

Antologia  Portuguesa. 

E se  era  vos  c’ant’o  prazo  saido  . 15  Yo  me  estaba  em  Coimbra . . . 76 

Melhor  e de  seer  traedor  ...  34  Despois  de  estar  ja  vestido  . . 258 

E em  que  sempre  cuidando  seyo  . 43 

Sd  de  Miranda. 

E este  teu  amigo  he  tao  meren-  Estas  tao  demudado 192 

corio  vil 144  Estava  como  fora  de  mim  . . . 201 

Os  Lusiadas. 

O mouro  astuto  esta  confuso  . I.  62 
O capitao  que  a tudo  estava 

attento I.  98 

Now  ser  and  ter  will  be  considered  as  intransitive  auxil- 
iaries. 

The  Portuguese  auxiliaries  follow  the  same  development 
and  undergo  the  same  changes  as  their  Spanish  equivalent, 
and,  as  far  as  I can  make  out,  at  about  the  same  period. 

68 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  39 


Ser. 

Canzoniere  Portoghese. 

Por  em  mais  en  q mal  dia  fui 

nado 

17 

Por  semp  sodes  de  mi  partido  . 

834 

E se  no  fosse  antexpo  nado  . . 

1013 

Hardung's  Romanceiro . 

Chegadas  sao  as  gall  eras  . . . 

13 

Saiban  quantos  sao  nascidos  . 

*5 

Que  meu  pae  que  era  morto  . . 

100 

Mas  anno  e dia  e passado  . . . 

113 

Agora  a saber  son  vindo  ... 

72 

Sd  de  Miranda  (Os  Estrangeiros). 

A tanto  sao  chegados  ....  78 

Pois  tu  es  vindo  a salumento  . . 118 

ja  tudo  esso  he  passado  a Por- 
tugal   147 

Os  Lusiadas. 


Sao  chegadas 

. I.  78 

meio  caminho  a noite  tinha 
an dado  

II.  60 

Sendo  0 capitao  chegado  . 

. I.  104 

ja  tinha  vindo  Henrique  da 
conquista 

III.  27 

A Melinde  foi  chegado  . . 

. . . antes  que  chegado 

. II.  57 

Chegado  tinha  0 prazo  promet- 

tido 

Ou  que  partes  do  mar  corrido 

HI.  37 

Seya  este  capitao  . . . . 

I.  76 

tinhan 

Do  mar  temos  corrido  e navi- 
gado  toda  a parte  .... 

I.  50 

I.  51 

The  Lusiads  represent  the  period  when  ser  and  ter  could 
be  used  equally  well  with  neuter  verbs.  After  that  time  ter 
must  have  gotten  the  upper  hand  very  rapidly.  I shall  say 
nothing  of  the  Provencal,  since  it  agrees,  so  far  as  I know, 
with  the  French. 


Chapter  III.  — Auxiliaries  used  with  Reflexive  Verbs. 

The  question  concerning  the  use  of  auxiliaries  in  the  com- 
pound tenses  of  the  reflexive  verbs  has  been  extensively 
treated,  but  whether  the  best  explanation  has  yet  been  found 

69 


40 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


is  very  doubtful.  It  would  be  too  long  a task  to  review  fully, 
one  after  the  other,  the  authors  that  have  written  on  that 
subject.  The  question  has  been  fully  examined  by  Gessner 
( Jahrbuck  fur  romanische  und  englische  Sprache  und  Litera- 
tur , XV,  p.  20 1)  and  by  A.  Mercier  (. De  V Histoire  des  parti- 
cipes  fran^ais).  Gessner  is  the  one  author  who  seems  to  have 
treated  the  debated  question  more  fully  than  any  other.  The 
principal  thing  to  be  considered  in  this  author’s  work,  and  by 
far  the  most  important  (Mr.  Gessner  himself  calling  it  the 
“Kernpunkt”  of  the  whole  question),  is  the  assertion  that 
the  reflexive  pronoun^  accompanying  the  verb  is  in  the  accu- 
sative, and  yet  not  the  direct  object  of  the  verb.  Mr.  Gess- 
ner tries  to  illustrate  his  theory  for  the  German  language  by 
selecting  as  an  instance  two  expressions,  one  reflexive  and 
the  other  active,  and  showing  that  the  former  is  more  vivid 
than  the  latter,  describing  more  intensively  the  actual  situation 
or  feeling  of  the  subject.  Who  will  deny  that  the  reflexive 
pronoun  adds  a mild,  poetical  meaning  to  the  verbal  expres- 
sion ? But  at  the  same  time,  Mr.  Gessner  tries  to  prove  that 
logically  the  reflexive  pronoun,  though  in  the  accusative,  is 
not  the  direct  object  of  the  verb.  Let  us  take  two  French 
sentences  directly  representing  those  given  by  Gessner  in 
German  : — 

II  craint  le  danger  ; 

II  s' effr aye  du  danger. 

In  both  cases,  he  says,  danger  is  the  direct  object  of  the  verb ; 
accordingly  the  reflexive  pronoun  cannot  be  the  direct  object 
(“  dieser  Accusativ  kein  Object  ist  ”).  As  far  as  the  meaning 
is  concerned,  nothing  is  changed  in  adopting  that  view,  and 
Mr.  Gessner  is  right ; but  if  we  take  into  consideration  the 
syntactical  connection,  he  is  wrong.  If  I say  simply,  Cet 
homme  s effr  aye  facilement , undoubtedly  we  have  to  consider 
the  reflective  se  as  being  the  direct  object  of  eff'/ayer , just 
as  the  first  personal  pronoun  me  would  be  in  Cet  homme 
m ejfraye. 

Now  if  to  our  first  sentence  cet  homme  s'  ejfraye,  I add  dti 
danger , will  these  few  words  change  the  relation  of  the  reflex- 

70 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  41 

ive  pronoun  to  its  verb  so  completely  as  to  prevent  it  from 
being  any  longer  the  direct  object  of  the  verb  ? I do  not 
think  so.  The  reflexive  pronoun  will  remain  in  the  accusa- 
tive case  and  be  the  direct  object  of  the  verb.  The  words  du 
danger  merely  explain  why  the  subject  is  under  the  control 
of  fear,  and  could  be  replaced  by  en  face  du  danger  or  a cause 
du  danger. 

This  way  of  looking  at  the  logical  construction  of  words 
seems  to  me  the  natural  one.  Mr.  Gessner  is  too  obscure 
when  he  pretends  that  in  expressions  like  the  above  the  re- 
flexive pronoun  is  in  the  accusative  case  and  yet  not  the 
object  of  the  verb,  and  that  this  accusative  adds  to  the  reflex- 
ive idea  an  interior  intenseness,  and  has  a tendency  to  de- 
prive the  verbal  notion  of  all  exterior  activity,  reducing  it  to 
an  especially  interior  expression. 

M.  Littre,  I think,  was  on  the  way  towards  a more  plausible 
explanation  of  the  difficulty,  when  he  said  in  his  Histoire  de 
la  langue  franqaise,  II,  317,  “ Se  erant  convers,  of  the  Frag- 
ment de  Valenciennes,  presupposes  the  low  Latin  sc  erant 
conversi."  The  explanation  he  gives  of  the  connection  be- 
tween convertor  passive  and  convertor  reflexive  is  good,  but  he 
fails  to  see  that  the  pronouns  me , te , se,  etc.,  had  been  added 
in  the  low  Latin  to  the  perfect  of  convertor  through  an  ana- 
lytic tendency,  and  in  analogy  with  convertor  reduced  to  me 
converto  in  Romance,  and  he  concludes  in  saying  that  se  is 
not  an  accusative  case,  but  that  it  represents  all  the  cases 
with  the  exception  of  the  nominative,  being  “a  regime  inde- 
termine  sans  cas  determine and  that  as  such  “Sea  pu  se 
joindre  a des  verbes  neiUres,  tels  que  s' en  aller , s' enfuir,  se 
taire , s'  eerier." 

M.  Chabanneau,  in  his  Histoire  de  la  conjugaison  franqaise, 
considers  the  auxiliaries  as  mere  inflectional  endings  of  the 
verbs  in  their  compound  tenses.  Whether  that  inflectional 
ending  be  the  auxiliary  etre  or  avoir,  it  does  not  change  the 
nature  of  the  relation  of  the  verb  to  its  object.  So  M. 
Chabanneau  recognizes  in  the  reflexive  pronoun  not  only  an 
accusative  case,  but  also  a direct  object  of  the  verb ; for  he 

7l 


42 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


says,  “ Dans  je  me  suis  frappe,  par  exemple,  me  est  le  com- 
plement de  suis  frappe,  comme  il  le  serait  de  ai  fj'appe  dans 
la  phrase  supposee  plus  correcte  je  m’ai  frappe.”  We  agree 
thoroughly  with  M.  Chabanneau,  and  indeed  a rigorous  pars- 
ing of  the  sentence  cannot  be  made  to  yield  to  the  reflexive 
pronoun  me  or  se  any  other  office  (compare  the  “direct 
object  ” of  the  Latin  deponent  verb).  It  seems  to  me  that 
M.  Chabanneau  is  very  near  solving  the  question  when  he 
says  (p.  5 of  the  work  quoted  above)  : “A  l’epoque  du  haut 
moyen  age  tous  les  verbes  deponents  (du  latin)  suivaient 
dans  la  langue  parlee  la  conjugaison  active,  du  moins  quant 
a leurs  temps  simples,  car  leurs  temps  composes  etaient  trop 
d’accord  avec  les  tendances  des  langues  nouvelles  qui  se  for- 
maient  pour  ne  pas  etre  maintenus,  et  nous  les  retrouvons 
parfaitement  conserves  dans  la  conjugaison  de  nos  verbes 
reflechis  et  d’un  grand  nombre  de  nos  verbes  intransitifs.” 

Although  I prefer  the  theory  of  M.  Chabanneau  to  that  of 
Mr.  Gessner,  as  being  more  complete  and  giving  a safer  clue 
to  the  question,  I by  no  means  intend  to  depreciate  that  of 
Mr.  Gessner.  The  poetical  meaning,  the  emphatic  expres- 
siveness added  to  the  verb  by  the  use  of  the  reflexive  pronoun 
se  cannot  be  doubted,  and  this  is  felt  by  every  one  who  is  well 
acquainted  with  the  French  language ; for  it  is  very  easy  to 
notice  that  between  two  expressions,  the  one  active  and  the 
other  reflexive,  the  French  generally  chooses  the  latter,  be- 
cause there  is  in  it  something  agreeing  better  with  the  genius 
of  the  language.  But  all  this  is  far  from  explaining  to  us 
the  difficulty  presented  by  the  reflexive  verb  system  of  the 
Romance  languages,  especially  when  we  take  into  account 
the  different  tendency  of  some  of  these  languages  to  use  -the 
auxiliary  esse  rather  than  the  auxiliary  habere , and  that  with 
either  one  of  these  auxiliaries  they  could  convey  their  reflex- 
ive meaning,  sometimes  making  use  of  the  poetical  reflexive 
pronoun  and  sometimes  leaving  it  out,  without  causing  the 
verb  to  undergo  any  change  in  its  meaning,  probably  also 
without  its  losing  any  of  its  poetical  coloring.  This  is  espe- 
cially striking  in  the  first  centuries  of  the  development  of  the 

72 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  43 

Romance  languages,  where  very  often  one  is  at  a loss  to  find 
any  difference  in  the  meaning  of  a verb  when  accompanied 
by  a reflexive  pronoun  and  when  without  it.  Wishing  now, 
after  these  observations,  to  discover  why  the  reflexive  pro- 
noun is  sometimes  omitted  and  sometimes  expressed,  and  the 
reasons  why  some  languages  have  adopted  the  auxiliary  esse 
and  some  others  the  auxiliary  habere , I must  present,  to  begin 
with,  a few  considerations  on  the  fat$  of  the  Latin  verb  itself. 

On  considering  what  has  become  of  the  deponent  and  neuter 
verbs  of  the  Latin  in  coming  down  to  the  Romance  languages, 
and  how  they  have  been  used,  especially  in  the  old  stage  of 
these  languages  as  purely  transitive  verbs  (compare  se  mourir , 
moui'ir  quelqu  un,  imiter  quelqu!  un,  etudier  quelque  chose,  perir, 
se  perir , perir  quelque  chose , se  naitre , se  venir ),  it  may  be 
assumed  that  all  the  Latin  verbs  that  have  survived  in  the 
Romance  languages  have  been  handed  down  in  an  active 
form,  having  an  active  meaning  and  capable  of  expressing  a 
transitive  action.  Among  these  verbs  there  was  a certain 
number  that  contained  in  themselves  a reflexive  idea,  that  is, 
that  the  subject  was  doing  the  action  for  its  own  seif.  Such, 
for  instance,  are  *morio , ambulo , venio , vado , vivo , descendo , 
ascendo , etc.  The  idea  expressed  by  these  verbs  might  be 
rendered  by  morio  me,  ambulo  me,  venio  me,  vado  me,  vivo 
me,  etc.  We  know  that  a strong  analytical  tendency  pre- 
sided over  the  formative  period  of  the  verbal  system  in  the 
Romance  languages,  and  it  was,  no  doubt,  this  tendency  that 
caused  them  to  give  to  Latih  verbs  that  were  intransitive  in 
their  synthetical  state,  complements,  just  as  other  comple- 
ments were  given  to  other  verbs  more  intransitive  in  their 
outward  appearance.  But  since  the  verbs  of  the  first  cate- 
gory, on  account  of  the  very  essence  of  their  internal  mean- 
ing (which  meaning  was  arrived  at  by  the  disintegrating-  or 
analytic  genius  of  the  new  languages)  were  left,  by  general 
consensus  undoubtedly,  to  express  an  action  especially  for 
che  benefit  of  the  subject  itself,  without  going  outside  of  it ; 
so  that  no  other  complement  could  be  given  them  but  a 
reflexive  complement  expressed  by  the  pronouns  me,  te,  se. 

73 


44 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Hence  we  have  the  name  of  reflexive  verbs  given  to  me 
morio , me  vivo , me  vado,  me  descendo,  me  venio,  etc.,  which 
verbs  have  been  used  in  a reflexive  form  in  all  the  Romance 
languages,  and  are  the  legitimate  growth  and  legitimate  rep- 
resentatives according  to  the  analytical  tendency  of  the  Latin 
verbs  vivo , venio , morior , etc. 

Grammarians  say  that  j' ai  ve'cu,  je  suis  mort,je  suis  allege 
suis  venn , je  suis  descendu , etc.,  are  neuter  verbs.  Appar- 
ently they  are ; but  before  these  forms  arose  we  had  je  me 
suis  vecu,je  me  suis  mort,  je  me  suis  alle,  je  me  suis  venu , je 
me  suis  descendu :,  etc.  ; and  these  verbs  are  nothing  but  re- 
flexive verbs.  When  the  question  of  the  conjugation  of  such 
verbs  as  me  vivo , me  morio , me  venio  arose,  or,  to  speak  more 
plainly,  when  these  verbs  came  to  be  used  in  all  their  tenses, 
it  was  very  easy  to  conjugate  them  in  their  simple  tenses. 
But  in  compound  tenses  (and  here  let  us  remember  what 
M.  Chabanneau  said  in  his  Flistoire , p.  5)  the  difficulty  was 
greatly  increased.  There  must  have  been,  at  the  time  of  the 
formative  period,  two  tendencies  working  in  the  Romance  lan- 
guages : one,  the  analytical,  resolving  the  compound  tenses 
into  periphrastical  by  combination  of  the  auxiliary  habere  and 
of  the  past  participle  of  the  conjugated  verb.  The  indicative 
present  being  je  me  vais,  je  me  descends , je  me  pars , the  com- 
pound tenses  of  the  preterite  regularly  became  je  m ai  alljje 
mai  descendu , je  m ai  parti.  This  is  the  most  natural  ex- 
planation, and  this  accounts  for  the  well-known  fact  that  a 
great  number  of  French  dialects  still  use  the  auxiliary  avoir 
in  combination  with  compound  tenses  of  reflexive  verbs,  and 
that  children  and  uneducated  people  do  the  very  same  thing. 
It  would  be  of  great  importance  to  know  the  relative  use  of 
esse  and  habere  ' in  the  different  Romance  dialects.  Very 
likely  in  all  of  them  instances  of  the  use  of  both  auxiliaries 
are  to  be  found,  with  this  difference,  that  they  are  more  or 
less  abundant,  according  to  each  dialect.  M.  Chabanneau 
has  mentioned  the  fact  that  several  dialects  of  France  make 
use  of  avoir  a,s  well  as  etre.  I may  say,,  that  in  the  Parler 
Sancerrois , and  in  the  Berry  generally,  this  use  is  very  com- 

74 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Roma?ice  Languages.  45 


mon.  For  instance,  it  would  not  be  rare  to  hear  some  one 
say,  Je  m avais  trompe,  il  s avait  sauve \ je  m avais  plaint , il 
sa  bien  donne  de  la  peine , etc.  The  use  of  avoir  is  extended 
also  to  neuter  verbs,  like  il  a tombe \ etc. 

Compare  also  the  Franco -Venetian  in  Romania,  XIV.,  177. 


Avec  lui  m’avero  corucer . . . . 

Que  a lui  plu  s’avoit  aprosmer  . . 

Ni  an  Milon  no  se  soit  consoler 
Dapois  que  de  Fran?a  m’avi  sevrer 
Mai  vero  l’ore  q’i  s’en  aura  sevrer  . 
Mere  fait  il  porqe  vos  ert  envier 


Berta  e Milone 

• 251 

Berta  e Milone 

• 274 

Berta  e Milone 

Orlandino  . . 

• 399 

Orlandino  . . 

• 234 

Orlandino  . . 

. 232 

But  besides  that  tendency  of  analysis  on  the  part  of  modern 
languages,  there  must  have  been  another,  not  less  powerful, 
which  may  be  termed  the  Latinistic,  by  which  is  meant  the 
tendency  to  conjugate  deponent  or  reflexive  verbs  in  accord- 
ance with  the  system  prevailing  in  the  Latin  language.  Par- 
tior  had  given  in  the  preterite  under  the  influence  of  the  ana- 
lytical tendency,  je  m ai  parti ; the  same  verb  will  give  under 
the  Latin  influence,  je  suis  parti  ( partitzts  sum).  The  table 
on  pp.  46  and  47  will  illustrate  the  effect  of  the  two  tendencies. 

This  table  shows  us  the  analytical  or  active  tendency  of 
the  modern  languages,  which  tendency,  had  it  not  been 
checked  by  another,  would  have  caused  that  all  the  com- 
pound tenses  of  Romance  reflexive  and  neuter  verbs  should 
be  conjugated  with  habere , just  as  they  are  at  present  in 
Spanish  and  Portuguese.  These  two  languages  have  carried 
out  thoroughly  the  analytical  tendency,  though  not  without 
at  first  yielding  to  the  syntactical  influence  of  the  Latin  verb- 
system.  Thus  we  see  that  the  analytical  and  conservative 
tendencies  have  been  working  side  by  side,  the  one  overrul- 
ing the  other  in  different  languages  ; and  as  a result  of  that 
struggle  we  have  a double  system  of  conjugating  reflexive 
verbs  in  the  Romance  languages,  just  as  the  struggle  between 
the  strong  Latin  conjugation  and  the  weak  Romance  conju- 
gation resulted  in  the  development  of  two  classes  of  verbs. 
Which  one  of  these  tendencies  was  the  stronger  at  the  begin- 
ning is  difficult  to  say ; but  I am  inclined  to  think  that  the 

75 


46 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Latin  tendency  was  the  stronger,  at  least  in  French  and 
Italian.  In  the  Fragment  de  Valenciennes  we  find  etre  alone 


Latin. 


Romance  Analysis. 


Latin. 


.tnorior 


morio  me 


mortuus  sum 


French 

Italian 

Spanish 


je  me  meurs 
(or  je  meurs) 
mi  muoio 
(or  muoio) 
me  muero 
(or  muero) 


Portuguese . 


me  morro 
(or  morro) 


parti  or 


partio  me 


pa 


rtitus  sum 


French  . 
Italian  . 
Spanish  . 


je  me  pars 
(or  je  pars) 
mi  parto 
(or  parto) 
me  parto 
(or  parto) 


Portuguese . 


me  parto 
(or  parto) 


venio , *venior 
Cf.  venitur 


venio  me 


*venitus  sum 
or 

*venutus  sum 


French  . 
•Italian  . 
Spanish  . 


je  me  viens 
(or  je  viens) 
mi  vengo 
(or  vengo) 
me  vengo 
(or  vengo) 


Portuguese . 


me  venho 
(or  venho) 


intro,  *intror 


intro  me 


*intratus  sum 


French  . 
Italian  . . 

Spanish . . 

Portuguese . 


je  m’  entre 
(or  j’entre) 
mi  entro 
(or  entro) 
me  entro 
(or  entro) 
me  entro 
(or  entro) 


used.  In  the  Alexis  and  Chanson  de  Roland  we  find  avoir 
only  three  times,  but  etre  very  often.  It  is  very  difficult  to 
say  how  long  avoir  continued  to  be  used  in  the  conjugation 

76 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  4 7 

of  reflexive  verbs  in  French  proper.  The  latest  instances  I 
have  found  occur  in  the  Roman  de  la  Rose  and  Villehardouin ; 


Romance  Analogy. 
Full  Reflexive  Verbs. 

Latin  Influence. 
Elliptical  Reflex. V’bs. 

Romance  Creation, 
or  Active  Tendency. 

Reduced  Expression. 

me  morluus  sum 

morluus  sum 

me  mortuum  habeo 

mortuum  habeo 

je  me  suis  mort 

je  suis  mort 

mi  sono  morto 

sono  morto 

* 

me  soy  muerto 

soy  muerto 

me  he  muerto 

he  muejrto 

me  sou  morto 

sou  morto 

me  tenho  morto 

tenho  morto 

me  partitus  sum 

partitus  sum 

me  partitum  habeo 

partitum  habeo 

je  me  suis  parti 

je  suis  parti 

mi  sono  partito 

sono  partito 

me  soy  partido 

soy  partido 

me  he  partido 

he  partido 

me  sou  partido 

sou  partido 

me  tenho  partido 

tenho  partido 

me  venitus  sum 
or 

me  venutus  sum 

venitus  sum 

or 

venutus  sum 

me  venitum  habeo 

venitum  habeo 

je  me  suis  venu 

je  suis  venu 

mi  sono  venuto 

sono  venuto 

me  soy  venido 

soy  venido 

me  he  venido 

he  venido 

me  sou  vindo 

sou  vindo 

me  tenho  vindo 

tenho  vindo 

me  intratus  sum 

intratus  sum 

me  intratum  habeo 

intratum  habeo 

je  me  suis  entre 

je  suis  entre 

mi  sono  entrato 

sono  entrato 

me  soy  entrado 

soy  entrado 

me  he  entrado 

he  entrado 

me  sou  entrado 

sou  entrado 

me  tenho  entrado 

tenho  entrado 

but  I dare  say  that  avoir  was  used  with  reflexive  verbs  in 
French  about  as  long  as  ser  was  used  in  Spanish  with  the 
same  reflexive  verbs.  We  shall  see  further  on  when  the 

77 


48 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


latest  traces  of  the  Spanish  reflexive  verb  conjugated  with 
ser  are  to  be  found.  We  see,  then,  that  as  long  as  the  French 
and  Spanish  languages  can  be  compared,  the  opposite  pro- 
cess of  development  in  this  particular  took  place.  Thus, 
while  the  Latin  or  conservative  influence  was  predominating 
in  the  French,  the  modern  tendency  was  predominating  in 
Spanish.  The  explanation  of  this  is  plain  enough.  We  know 
that  the  southwest  languages  of  the  Romance  family  (the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese)  have  a development  totally  inde- 
pendent of  that  of  the  northeast  group  (the  French  and  Ital- 
ian). One  of  these  characteristics  is  found  in  the  way  these 
different  languages  have  treated  their  verbal  system.  Where- 
as, on  the  one  hand,  the  French,  and  yet  more  the  Italian, 
have  striven  against  the  influence  of  analogy  to  keep  alive 
the  strong  Latin  conjugation,  whether  by  retaining  original 
Latin  strong  verbs,  or  by  making  weak  Latin  verbs  strong,  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  have,  on  the  other  hand,  transferred, 
we  may  say,  the  whole  of  the  Latin  strong  conjugation  to  the 
weak  conjugation,  thus  yielding  to  the  unifying  power  of  anal- 
ogy. Thus  one  may  see  how  independently  each  language  or 
each  group  of  languages  develops.  And  we  must  not  wonder 
that  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  use  haber  and  ter  with  their 
reflexive  verbs,  and  the  French  and  Italian  esse,  Even  in 
these  two  languages  the  development  of  the  use  of  esse  was 
not  totally  accordant.  From  the  very  beginning  the  French 
made  no  difference  whether  the  reflexive  pronoun  that  accom- 
panied the  verb  was  in  the  accusative  case  or  dative ; every- 
where etre  was  made  use  of.  The  Italian,  on  the  contrary, 
used  at  first  avere  whenever  the  reflexive  pronoun  was  in  a 
dative  case,  and  essere  when  it  was  in  the  accusative  case ; 
but  later  on  avere  yielded  to  essere  in  the  dative  case  also. 
I have  already  mentioned  above  the  great  freedom  of  the 
Romance  languages  in  older  times  to  express  or  to  leave  out 
the  reflexive  pronoun  without  altering  the  meaning  of  the 
verb.  How  shall  we  account  for  that  peculiarity,  which  is 
common  to  all  the  Romance  languages  ? Here,  again,  I 
attribute  it  to  two  tendencies : the  conservative,  which  was 

78 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  49 

to  represent  the  compound  tenses  with  sum  (as  in  Latin)  and 
the  past  participle,  without  adding  to  it  any  reflexive  pro- 
noun ; and  the  analytical  tendency,  which  was  to  apply  to 
compound  tenses  the  analysis  made  of  simple  tenses.  The 
former  tendency  had  given  : — 

morior  ( morio  me),  mortuus  sum, 
partior  (partio  me),  partitus  sum; 

the  latter  tendency  gave  : — 

morior,  morio  me,  (me)  mortuus  sum, 
partior,  partio  me,  (me)  partitus  sum, 

thus  carrying  the  use  of  reflexive  pronouns  from  simple 
tenses  to  compound  tenses.  Hence  there  was  a conflict 
between  these  two  tendencies,  the  one  leaving  out  the  ana- 
logical reflexive  pronoun  of  the  compound  tenses,  while  the 
other  had  introduced  it.  But,  of  course,  the  meaning  was 
perfectly  preserved,  and  remained  the  same  in  both  cases. 

In  this  way  could  be  explained  the  apparent  inconsistencies 
of  the  reflexive  Romance  conjugation.  The  Latin  tendency, 
which  was  weaker  than  the  analytical,  has  gained  the  upper 
hand  in  one  class  of  verbs,  called  above  “elliptical  reflexive 
verbs,”  and  consequently  the  pronoun  has  been  omitted  : 
Je  me  suis  parti , je  me  suis  alle,  je  me  suis  venu , have  settled 
definitely  into  je  suis  parti , je  suis  alle , je  suis  venu. 

But  the  tendency  that  had  pushed  the  Spanish  language 
towards  adopting  the  auxiliary  haber  for  the  conjugation  of 
all  the  neuter  verbs  was  also  working  in  French,  and  our  first 
class  of  verbs  having  adopted,  through  Latin  influence,  etre, 
the  second  class  of  neuter  verbs  adopted  the  auxiliary  avoir. 
In  yet  a third  class  of  verbs  neither  tendency  prevailed,  and 
to  this  very  day  they  make  use  of  the  two  auxiliaries. 
Compare  : — 

Je  suis  monte  01*  fai  monte ; 

Je  suis  descendu  or  fai  descendu; 

Je  suis  reste  or  fai  reste  ; 

Je  suis  passe  or  fai  passe,  etc. 

Grammarians  have  decided  that  etre  must  be  employed 
when  the  verb  marks  state  or  condition,  and  avoir  when  it 

79' 


50 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


indicates  an  action,  and  generally  our  feeling  is  influenced  by 
this  distinction  ; but  I have  tried  to  show  that  such  was  not 
the  case  in  the  Old  French  period. 

It  has  already  been  assumed,  in  the  first  part  of  this  trea- 
tise, that  every  verb  is  active,  and  consequently  all  the  verbs 
that  have  come  down  to  the  Romance  languages  from  the 
Latin  mother  tongue  must  have  been  verbs  belonging  to  the 
active  voice.  To  explain  this  phenomenon  we  must  go  back 
to  the  early  period  of  the  Latin,  just  as  to  explain  the  Italian 
forms  struggere  and  traggo  we  have  to  go  back  to  the  period 
when-  the  classical  forms  struere  and  traho  were  represented 
by  the  more  primitive  forms  strugere , trag(Ji)o.  The  g of 
these  latter  forms  is  still  preserved  in  the  sigma  perfects, 
traxi,  struxi  standing  for  trag-si,  striLg-si.  By  going  back  to 
the  formative  period  of  the  Latin,  we  shall  see  that  the  active 
voice  was  the  only  voice  this  language  then  possessed. 

It  has  been  said  (cf.  Die  Verbal  Flexion  der  lateinischen 
Sprache  of  Westphal  and  others)  that  the  Greek  constructed 
its  middle  and  passive  voices  (the  aorist  and  future  excepted) 
with  the  same  inflexional  endings,  jjlcu,  crcu,  tcu,  and  these 
endings  were  originally,  as  the  comparison  with  other  lan- 
guages proves,  endings  of  the  middle  voice,  which  afterwards, 
through  a transfer  of  meaning,  were  used  as  passive  endings. 
The  Latin  verb  must  have  once  possessed  endings  similar  to 
the  fiat,  (tcu,  tcu  of  the  Greek,  and  with  a parallel  meaning ; 
but  they  were  afterwards  lost,  a periphrastic  expression  being 
introduced  in  its  stead.  That  periphrastic  expression  was 
made  up  of  an.  active  form,  eg.  amo,  and  the  reflexive  se. 
But  the  Latin  did  not  keep  this  new  formation  in  its  primi- 
tive state,  and  a fusion  of  the  periphrastic  expression  into  a 
single  word  took  place,  and  amo  se  became  amor{e),  amas-se , 
amar(i)s,  etc.  Just  as  the  endings  fiat,  acu,  tcu  had  served 
as  inflexional  endings  to  the  middle  and  passive  voices,  so  the 
parallel  Latin  endings  formed  its  passive  and  deponent  forms. 
Thus  four  periods  might  be  distinguished  in  the  verbal  growth 
of  the  Latin,  viz. : The  first  period,  when  the  Latin  had  forms 
similar  to  that  of  the  Greek  in  /jlcu,  ecu,  Tat ; the  second 

80 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  51 


period , when  the  active  voice  became  middle  by  the  independ- 
ent use  of  se  (eg.  amo-se) ; the  third  period,  when  the  verb 
and  se  combined  into  a single  word  (aino  + se  > amo'd),  and 
the  reflexive  meaning  was  changed  to  a passive.  Such  trans- 
fer of  a reflexive  to  a passive  meaning  was  the  regular  devel  - 
opment of  human  thought,  which  with  a reflexive  idea  necessa- 
rily and  logically  associates  a passive  idea ; so  that  in  the 
classical  period  of  the  Latin  language  the  same  endings  had 
to  express  a reflexive  and  a passive  verbal  notion.  The  new 
period  having  been  created  by  a tendency  towards  a passive 
notion  or  idea,  it  is  natural  that  the  passive  verbs  should  have 
been  more  developed  in  the  classical  Latin  than  the  reflexive 
verbs  ; but.^  at  the  same  time  the  tendency  was  not  so  strong 
as  to  push  all  the  more  ancient  reflexive  verbs  into  passives. 
Hence  we  have  a certain  number  of  them  reserved  by  classi- 
cal authors  to  a reflexive  use  exclusively ; but  even  these  con- 
tained in  themselves  the  power  of  being  used  passively  as 
well  as  the  others,  and  that  power  had  been  given  them  by 
the  general  tendency  that  had  pushed  Latin  verbs  from  reflex- 
ives to  passives.  This  seems  the  most  plausible  way  to 
explain  how  deponent  verbs  like  adhortari , admirari , consolari, 
dilargiri , meditari , partiri , sortiri , reserved  by  classical  writers 
to  deponent  use,  are  found  in  the  passive  voice,  especially  in 


the  past  participle  (compare  Livy  : — 

Partitis  divenditisque  reliquiis  XXI.  21 

Ex  malignitate  praedae  partitae V.  20 


Compare  also  Draeger,  Historiche  Syntax,  I.,  p.  156)  ; and 
how  passive  verbs  retained  the  deponent  meaning  and  were 


used  as  deponent  verbs  (compare  Livy  : — 

Sed  ruinae'  maxi^ne  modo  jumenta  cum  oneribus  devolvebantur  . . . XXI.  33 

Ut  idem  in  singulos  annos  orbis  volveretur III.  10 

Priusquam  hostes  moverentur  XXXVII.  18). 


The  fourth  period,  when  the  passive  meaning  was  given  up 
through  popular  influence,  and  the  original  reflexive  mean- 
ing was  restored  by  means  of  decomposition  resulting  in  the 
independent  expression  of  the  verb-form  and  the  reflexive 
pronoun.  This  last  change,  beginning  at  a time  when  the 

81 


52 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Latin  language  had  no  longer  power  to  restrain  the  inde- 
pendent growth  of  the  popular  idioms,  was  carried  out  by  the 
Romance  languages.  That  decomposition  was  so  thorough 
that  abstract  notions  and  inanimate  things  that  can  only 
express  a passive  idea,  were  clad  with  active  forms  in  such 
a way  that  they  seem  to  be  the  agents  of  the  verbal  notion. 

Compare  the  French  expressions  : Ce  livre  se  trouve  sur  la 
table  ; ce  bois  se  fend  difficilement ; cette  maison  se  bdtit  lente- 
ment ; cette  terre  se  desseche  ; cette  expression  s emploie  ; cette 
chose  se  dit ; ce  pays  se  mine , etc.,  etc. 

Why  the  Latin  abandoned  its  middle  endings  would  be 
difficult  to  say,  since  we  have  lost  nearly  all  traces  of  the 
languages  that  surrounded  the  Latin  in  its  formative  period, 
but  that  transformation  is  no  more  surprising  than  a great 
number  of  other  linguistic  phenomena.  Nor  is  the  use  of  se 
for  all  the  persons  of  passive  verbs  in  Latin  inexplainable. 
The  idea  contained  in  the  word  se  (one’s  self)  is  of  an  inde- 
finite character,  and  hence  se  can  be  connected  with  any 
person  in  any  number.  This  same  phenomenon  is  to  be 
found  in  Scandinavian  dialects,  as  well  as  among  Romance- 
speaking people  of  a certain  portion  of  Switzerland,  the 
Rhato-romonsch.  Compare  Grammatica  elementara  dil  Inn- 
gatg  Rhato-romonsch , scritta  da  J.  A.  Btihler,  p.  64  : “ II 
pronom  1 se  ’ ei  en  tuttas  formas,  persunas,  modas  tuts  temps 
ligiaus  vid  il  verb  . . . ridicul  ei  de  voler  declinar  quei  pronom 
‘ se  ’ a la  moda  italiana  e franzosa,  sco  p.  t.j'eu  mi  fidel , tu  te 
fidas , la  flexiun  de  quei  pronom  ei  en  el  lungatg  romonsch 
buca  veguida  cultivada  e nos  ureglia  romonscha  sa  buca  vertir 
pei  quei  Italianismus.” 

Thus  we  see  that  in  this  particular  language  the  reflexive 
verb  takes  the  reflexive  pronoun  se  in  all  the  persons,  in 
both  numbers.  The  “ se”  is  now  yielding  to  me,  te,  se,  and 
that  under  the  influence  of  the  Italian  and  of  the  French. 
Consequently  the  reflexive  verbs  of  the  Romance  languages 
are  nothing  but  the  legitimate  representatives  of  the  first 
Latin  type  amo-se,  with  the  difference  that  they  have  under- 
gone from  the  very  beginning  the  change  which  the  Ro- 

82 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  53 

monsch  is  undergoing  now.  Their  analytic  tendency  caused 
them  to  substitute  for  se  alone  the  different  pronouns  me , te, 
se,  nos , vos. 

After  these  considerations  let  us  review  the  history  of  the 
reflexive  conjugation  in  the  different  Romance  languages. 
This  history  has  been  extensively  treated  by  Gessner  and 
others  in  the  works  quoted  above,  for  French  especially  ; 
and  as  far  as  the  last  language  is  concerned,  we  have  but' 
very  little  to  add. 

I.  Auxiliaries  with  Reflexive  Verbs  in  French , without  Direct 

Object. 

It  has  been  already  stated  in  the  foregoing  part  of  this 
article,  that  French,  making  no  difference  whether  the  pro- 
noun was  in  the  accusative  or  in  the  dative  case,  used  the 
auxiliary  etre  in  conjugating  its  reflexive  verbs.  As  an  excep- 
tion to  the  above  rule  is  found  a certain  number  of  compound 
tenses  of  reflexive  verbs  conjugated  with  the  auxiliary  avoir. 
A list  of  s'uch  instances  is  found  in  Chabanneau’s  and  Gess- 
ner’s  works,  and  in  some  others.  Two  instances  nowhere 
found  quoted  are  given  here,  since  it  is  desirable  that  such  a 
list  should  be  as  complete  as  possible  : 

S’ai  moi  dedens  Varchiere  mis  (Roman  de  la  Rose,  22.  616); 

E quand  chascun  s'ot  a sa  terre  assene  (Villeh.  Conq.  de  C.  100). 

It  is  very  probable  that  avoir  has  not  been  Used  in  compound) 
tenses  of  French  reflexive  verbs  since  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century. 

II.  Auxiliaries  with  Reflexive  Verbs  in  French , with  Direct 

Object. 

M.  Littre,  in  his  Histoire  de  la  langue  fran^aise , p.  321,  says 
that  “je  me  suis  coupe  le  doigt”  ought  to  be  considered  as  a 
solecism,  and  that  the  correct  expression  would  be  uje-mai 
coupe  le  doigt But  since  we  have  considered  the  reflexive 
pronoun  in  such  cases  as  je  me  suis  coupe  as  being  the  direct 
object  of  the  verb,  we  shall  easily  understand  that  here;  the 

83 


54 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


personal  pronoun  me , being  accompanied  by  a more  explica- 
tive and  descriptive  object  upon  which  finally  the  action 
expressed  by  the  verb  falls,  yields  its  place  to  it  and  assumes 
a dative  case.  When  we  say  je  me  suis  coupe , me  receives 
entirely  the  action  expressed  by  the  verb ; but  when  we 
specify  more  by  adding  le  doigt , the  pronoun  receives  the 
action  only  indirectly,  and  consequently  assumes  the  place  of 
‘an  indirect  object.  It  is,  as  we  see,  a mere  change  of  case, 
which  does  not  entirely  break  the  relation  of  the  reflexive 
pronoun  with  the  verb,  but  still  leaves  £he  latter  under  the 
indirect  influence  of  the  former ; and  hence  there  is  not  a 
sufficient  ground  to  allow  the  verb  to  change  its  auxiliary. 
Indeed,  in  such  cases  the  Italian,  as  a rule,  used  to  change  its 
auxiliary  and  take  avere ; but  this  fact  only  proves  that  the 
tendency  towards  a single  type  of  conjugation,  when  a reflex- 
ive pronoun  accompanied  the  verb,  had  a more  powerful  sway 
in  French  than  in  Italian.  But  if  M.  Littre’s  assertions  that 
the  French  had  sacrificed  the  rule  of  the  grammar  for  the 
sake  of  euphony,  and  had  been  imposed  upon  with -a  solecism, 
were  correct,  the  same  thing  could  be  said  of  the  Italian  of  to- 
day, since  the  latter  follows  the  same  rules  as  the  French  in 
the  reflexive  conjugation.  This  will  be  clearly  shown  later  on. 

Speaking  of  the  supposed  anomalous  expression ,“je  me  suis 
coupe  le  doigt”  M.  Littre  says  : “ Je  ne  sais  si  elle  est  ancienne, 
je  suis  porte  a croire  que  non,  mais  je  n’ai  la-dessus  aucun 
renseignement.”  I have  tried  to  collect  a certain  amount  of 
material  to  prove  that  it  was  ancient,  and  as  a result  find 
plenty  of  reflexive  verbs  with  direct  object  in  Livre  de  Job, 
Sermons  St.  Bernard,  Livre  des  Rois,  Guillaume  de  Tyr,  Join- 
ville,  Villehardouin,  but  none  in  compound  tenses.  But  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  Old  French,  taking  a direct 
object  in  the  single  tenses  of  reflexive  verbs,  should  have 
avoided  it  in  compound  tenses.  However,  we  find  in  Rabe- 
lais and  Montaigne  so  many  instances  of  reflexive  verbs 
accompanied  by  a direct  object  in  compound  tenses,  that  it 
is  impossible  not  to  think  that  the  same  thing  had  been  done 
a long  time  before  them. 


84 


Use  of  Auxiliary  'Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  55 


Compare : — 

II  se  frottait  ordinairement  le  ventre  d'un  panier  (Rab.  123); 
Elle  s'etait  fait  aucun  mal  (Rab.  396); 

S’est  rompu  le  coul  (Rab.  74 2); 

S’etre  avec  une plume  tire  un  ciron  de  la  main  (Rab.  1172); 
S’etant  un  peu  frotte  le  front  et  secoue  les  oreilles  (Rab.  294  s) ; 
Nous  estant  been  a point  saboures  I’estomac,  etc.,  etc. 


III.  Auxiliaries  with  Reflexive  Verbs  in  Italian. 

In  the  most  ancient  writers  of  the  Italian  language,  Matteo 
Spinelli,  Ricordamo  Malespini,  Dino  Compagni,  and  Dante,  I 
do  not  find  a single  exception  to  the  rules  of  the  accusative 
and  dative  cases.  That  is  to  say,  reflexive  verbs  accompanied 
by  a personal  pronoun  in  the  dative  case  take  the  auxiliary 
avere , and  those  accompanied  by  the  personal  pronoun  in  the 
accusative  case  take  the  auxiliary  essere. 

Matteo  Spinelli. 

Dative  Case:  — 

Ma  che  imprestassero  alio  re  chilli  denari  che  se  avevano  portati  per  le  spese 
(1101).  — Che  s’  avesse  fatta  la  tassa  delle  spese  a se  et  a soi  famigli  (1069). — 
E cha  isso  se  1’  havia  recuperata  per  viva  forza  da  maiio  di  due  Papi  (1087). — 
Per  che  isso  se  1’  haveria  tenuto  come  a figlio  (1087).  — Lo  re  disse  cha  non 
volea  fare  perdere  la  ventura  a quella  zitella  que  per  la  belleza  si  se  P havia 
procacciata  (1095). 

Accusative  Case: — ; 

Che  se  ne  erano  fuggiti  in  Schiavonia  (1079).  — Che  Napoli  si  era  arrenduta 
(1085). — Li  frati  della  zitella  se  ne  sariano  contentati  (1093).  — Dove  s’  era 
ritirato  lo  comte  di  Tricario  (1107).  — Recuperando  quelle  terre  che  s’erano 
ribellate  (1107). 

Ricordamo  Malespini. 

Accusative  Case  : — 

II  centurione  si  era  dilungato  (893).  — La  quale  cittk  non  s’  era  rifatta  (907). 
— I quali  s’  erano  recati  in  contado  de  Firenze  (908).  — E di  poco  s’  erano 
levati  d’  uno  poggio  (931).  — Allora  s’  era  retta  la  citta  sotto  signoria  de’  consoli 
(942).  — S’  erano  posti  ad  assedio  al  castello  di  Capraja  (970).  — II  suo  fratello 
bastardo  Manfredi  se  n’  era  fatto  vicario  (976).  — Manfredi  s’  era  coronato  re  di 
Ci cilia  (978).  — S’  erano  messi  ad  assalire  tutta  1’  oste  dei  Fiorentini  (989). — 
Molta  buona  gente  del  regno  di  Sicilia  s’  erano  partiti  (1024% — II  re  Carlo  no 
s’  era  voluto  imparentare  con  lei  (1024). 

85 


56 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


Cronaca  di  Dino  Compagni. 

Accusative  Case:  Cavalieri  novelli  s’  erano  fatti  (473);  Niuno  se  sarebbe 
campato  (503);  Ma  poi  che  i Bianchi  si  furono  partiti  (517);  Reggio  e Modena 
s’  erano  rubellate  (520). 

Dante. 

Dative  Case  : — 

Quando  s’ebbe  scoperta  la  gran  bocca Inf.  XII.  79 

Dali’  altra  gia  m’  avea  lasciata  Setta  . . XXVI.  1 1 1 

Tre  Frison  s’  averian  dato  mal  vanto XXXI.  64 

Gualandi  con  Sismondi  e con  Lanfranchi, 

S’  avea  messi  dinanzi  dalla  fronte XXXIII.  33 

Rivolsersi  alia  luce  che  promessa 

Tanto  s’  avea Parad.  VIII.  44 

Dell’  anime,  che  Dio  s’  ha  fatte  amiche XXV.  90 

Dell’  eterno  Valor  poscia  que  tanti 

Speculi  fatti  s’  ha XXIX.  144 

Accusative  Case  : — 

Considereremo  come  gli  uomini  molto  onorati  si  siano  da  esse  loro  proprie 
partiti  (Della  Vol.  El.  750).  — Alcuni  si  sono  partiti  dal  suo  proprio  materno 
parlare  (752). 

Ed  io,  che  del  color  mi  fui  accorto Inf.  IV.  15 

E poi  ch’  alia  man  destra  si  fu  volto IX.  132 

Vedi  \h.  Farinata  che  s’  e dritto X.  32 

Credo  que  s’  era  inginocchion  levata X.  54 

Restato  m’  era X.  74 

E quel  medesmo,  che  si  fue  accorto XIV.  49 

Gittato  mi  sarei  tra  lor  disotto XVI  47 

Ma  perch’  io  mi  sarei  bruciato  e cotto XVI.  49 

Che  questa,  per  la  quale  io  mi  son  mosso Purg.  I.  63 

Ma  s’  io  fossi  fuggito  ni  v£r  la  Mira V.  79 

L’  ombra,  che  s’  era  al  giudice  raccolta VIII.  109 

Con  Beatrice  m’  era  suso  in  cielo 

Cotanto  gloriosamente  accolto Parad.  XI.  13 

E ch’  io  non  m’  era  li  rivolto  a quelli XIV.  135 

Boccaccio. 

Dative  Case  : — 

Li  quali  come  vestiti  s’  ebbe  a suo  dosso  fatti  parevano  (Decam.  2.  2).  — Par- 
lando  s’  arebbe  vitupero  recato  (3. 2).  — Hommi  posto  in  cuore  di  fargliele  alcuna 
(3.  3).  — S’  avea  posto  in  cuore  di  non  lasciarla  mai  (3.  7).  — In  tanto  che  pa- 
rente  ne  amico  lasciato  s’  avea  che  (4.  10).  — Avendo  si  prima  tirato  il  cappuccio 
(6.  10)  — Per  venire  a costui  che  non  pensa  cui  egli  s’  ha  menata  a casa  (7.  2). 
— Avendosel  tirato  un  poco  innanzi  (7.  5).  — Egli  s’  avesse  molto  messo  il  cap 

86 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  57 


pucio  innanzi  (7.  5).  — Messer  lo  geloso  s’  avea  messe  alcune  petruzze  in  bocca 
(7.5).  — Ma  tuttavia  che  egli  s’  abbia  di  me  detto  (7.  8). — Avendo  se  adunque 
questa  promession  fatta  (7.  10).  — Per  non  poterti  vedere  t’  avresti  cavati  gli 
occhi  (8.  6).  — Avendo  si  P*  anello  di  lei  messo  in  bocca  (10.9).  — I panni  che 
spogliati  s’  avea  (10.  10).  — Que  gli  che  la  mi  diede  se  1’  ha  ritolta  (La  Fiam- 
metta,  V.). 

Accusative  Case  : — 

D’  ogni  cosa  opportuna  a dovere  . . . fornito  s’  era  (Decam.  3.  5).  — E poi  che 
egli  in  diverse  maniere  si  fu  molto  ingegnato  (3.  7).  — S’  era  per  paura  gittato 
nel  canale  (4.  2).  — Fuggita  si  sarebbe  del  padre  e venuto  se  ne  a Gerbino  (4.  4). 

— Alcuna  posta  vicina  al  cuore  gli  s’  era  rotta  (4.6).  — Della  sua  novella  s’  era 
deliberata  (6.  9).  — Tu  ti  sei  ingannato  di  dimostrarmi  (1.  2).  — Che  riguardasse 
si  partito  si  fosse  (1.  7).  — Altrui  s’  e di  beffare  ingegnato.  La  altrove  si  fosse 
fuggito  (2.  2).  — Si  io  mi  fossi  di  cio  accorto  (2.  3).-r-Che  maggiore  non  si  saria 
potuta  portare  (2.  8).  — Io  non  avrei  mai  creduto  che  . . . ti  fossi  guardato  (2.  8). 

— E quando  ella  si  sarebbe  voluta  dormire  (3.  4). 

Two  exceptions  to  the  rule  of  the  accusative  case  are 
found  in  Boccaccio:  — 

Che  alia  gelosia  tu  t’  hai  lasciato  accecare  (7.  5) ; Poiche  la  donna  s’  ebbe  as- 
sai  fatta  pregare. 

* Machiavelli. 

Dative  Case  : — 

Trovando  si  ingannati  . . . di  quel  futuro  bene  que  si  avevano  presupposto 
(II  Principe,  III.).  — I gentiluomini  Romani  si  aveva  guadagnato  (VII.  37). — 
E tanto  erano  validi  i fondamenti  che  in  si  poco  tempo  si  aveva  fatti  (VII.). — 
Li  gradi  della  milizia  quali  ...  s’  aveva  guadagnato  (VIII.).  — Onde  avendo  si 
creato  odio  (XIX.).  — Tutta  la  gloria  che  si  avevano' nel  principio  acquistata  (Isto- 
rie  F.  II.  281).  — Le  quale  per  la  morte  di  Messer  Niccolo  si  avevano  acquistate 
(II.). — Parendo  gli  aversi  tirato  addosso  troppo  importante  nimico  (VI.  229). — 
Cosimo  avendo  si  alia  sua  potenza  la  publica  et  la  privata  via  aperta  (VII.  239). 

— Quella  citta  che  non  s’  avevano  saputa  conservare  (VII.  276).  — Pensando  di 
godersi  . . . quello  stato  che  s’  avevano  stabilito  (VII.  293). 

Accusative  Case  : — 

E quelli  che  se  li  erano  gittati  in  grembo  (II  Principe,  III.  17).  — La  virtu  dell’ 
animo  loro  si  saria  spenta  (IV.  28).  — Si  non  si  fusse  lasciato  ingannare  da  Cesare 
Borgia  (VIII.). — Si  era  del  regno  di  Napoli  insignorito  (Istorie  F.  II.  281). — 
Mold  ghibellini  che  si  erano  con  loro  accostati  (II.). — E se  da  Francesco  s’  era 
avuto  poco  (VII.  263). 

Just  as  were  found  in  Boccaccio  exceptions  to  the  rule 
given  about  the  use  of  the  auxiliary  when  the  pronoun  was 
in  the  accusative  case,  so  in  Machiavelli  was  found  one  ex- 

87 


58 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


ception  to  the  rule  given  when  the  pronoun  was  in  the 
dative.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  I met  with  esse  in  the  com- 
pound tense  of  a reflexive  verb  preceded  by  a pronoun  in 
the  dative  case  : — 

Per  non  gli  potere  satisfare  in  quel  modo  que  si  erano  presupposto  (II  Principe,  II.). 


Dative  Case  : — 


• Ariosto. 


Che  piede  o braccio  s’  abbia  rotto  e smosso 1-59 

E piu  volte  s’  averan  rotta  la  fronte 2.  66 

Polinesso  che  gih  s’  avea  proposto 

Di  far  Ginevra  al  suo  amator  nemica 5-36 

E composto  fra  te  t’  hai  queste  cose 5-39 

Che  per  dolor  s’  avea  dato  la  morte 5.  61 

Che  s’  avea  per  non  esser  conosciuto 

Cambiati  i panni  e nascose  le  chiome 5.  65 

Che  a difender  Ginevra  s’  avea  tolto 5-77 

Dove  li  dui  guerrier  dato  e risposto  molto  s’  aveano 5.  80 


(Compare 

<_n 

00 

O 

7-6 4;  c 

)•  73 

; 10.  6 ; 

IO. 

99-; 

12. 

61  ; 

15- 

30; 

i5- 

29; 

16. 

60  ; 

16. 

79; 

17.  no; 

18. 

II 7; 

20. 

10; 

2 J. 

2 ; 

23- 

IO; 

23- 

53 ; 

24. 

21  ; 

25-  51 ; 

25- 

85; 

26. 

91 ; 

27. 

71 ; 

27. 

132 

; 28.  36 

; 28.  65 

to 

vp. 

00 

29. 

37 ; 

31. 

41 ; 

3i* 

79; 

3i- 

88  ; 

32. 

30; 

32. 

40; 

32.  64; 

32. 

59; 

32. 

72 ; 

32. 

79 ; 

33- 

43  ; 

33- 

71 ; 

34- 

41 ; 

37-  35  ; 

37- 

40; 

38. 

78; 

39- 

57 ; 

40. 

21  ; 

40. 

56 ; 

40. 

00 

41.  41  ; 

43- 

85; 

44. 

74; 

45- 

69  ; 

41. 

49-) 

Accusative  Case  : — 


Piu  volte  s’  eran  gih  non  pur  veduti . 

Che  s’  era  in  mar  sommerso  Ariodante  . 
Ed  armato  con  lui  s’  era  condutto  . 

D’  all’  onde  Idaspe  udita  si  saria  . . 

E perche  molto  dilungata  s’  era  . . 

Che  s’  erano  serbati  in  quegli  affanni 
Ma  Farrau  che  sin  qui  mai  non  s’  era 
Col  re  Marsilio  suo  troppo  disgiunto 
Che  ’1  pagan  s’  era  tratto  in  quella  parte 
A caminar  se  gli  era  messo  a lato 
Malgrado  di  Christian  rimesso  s’  era. 


I.  16 
5-57 
• 5-9i 
7-  36 
8.  32 
14.  101 

, 16.  71 
, 16.  89 
18.  30 


(Compare  18.  76  ; 18.  91  ; 18.  103  ; 21.  64  ; 23.  17  ; 23.  50  ; 
26.  108;  27.  56;  27.  75;  27.  1 12;  27.  1 15;  27.  137;  29. 
58  ; 30.  80 ; 33.  65  ; 34.  41  ; 36.  54  ; 37.  4 7 \ 38.  72  ; 40-  62  ; 

88 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  59 

40.  71;  48.  8;  42.  39;  43.  125;  43.  187;  44.  89;  45.  8; 
46.  26  ; 46.  50  ; 46.  63  ; 46.  77  ; 46.  108  ; 46.  120.) 

I found  also  in  Ariosto  two  exceptions  to  the  rule  for 
the  accusative,  the  first  of  which  is  undoubtedly  due  to 


the  rhyme  : — 

Non  cosi  strettamente  edera  preme 
Pianta  ove  intorno  abbarbicata  s’  abbia  ; 

Come  si  stringon  li  due  amanti  insieme; 

Cogliendo  dello  spirto  in  sulle  labbia  ; 

Suave  fior 7.  29 

E poi  che  ’1  Sol  s’  ebbe  nel  mar  rinchiuso 34.  68 


Francesco  Guicciardini. 

During  the  time  of  Guicciardini,  that  is  to  say  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth, several  important  rules  must  have  become  general  in 
Italian,  at  least  in  prose-writers  ; for  one  does  not  find  in 
Guicciardini  forms  in  ade , ate , for  a,  and  conditionals  in  aria 
like  avria  for  avrebbe.  And  it  must  be  also  about  that  period 
that  the  auxiliary  essere  was  used  to  conjugate  reflexive  verbs 
with  a pronoun  in  the  dative  case,  just  as  it  was  used  to  con- 
jugate reflexive  verbs  with  a pronoun  in  the  accusative  case. 
Of  course  avere  was  also  used,  and  plenty  of  instances  are 
found  in  Guicciardini  himself  ; but  we  may  say  that  from 
that  time  on  avere  was  decreasing  all  the  time  in  its  use 
as  auxiliary  of  reflective  verbs  with  dative  case  pronouns. 
From  the  eighteenth  century  on,  I do  not  find  traces  of  it  in 
the  authors  examined. 

Istoria  d'  Italia. 

Dative  Case  : — 

Pero  poi  che  lungamente  si  ebbe  rivolto  per  1’  animo  lo  stato  delle  cose  (I.  25). 

— Cominciassero  cosi  presto  a non  corrispondere  a quel  che  di  lui  s’  aveva  pro- 
messo  (I.  69).  — Che  una  famiglia  sola  s’  avesse  arrogata  la  potesta  (I.  136). 

— I quali  Alessandro  con  doni  s’  aveva  fatti  benevoli  (I.  166).  — Mold  che  s’ 
avevano  proposta  maggior  larghezza  (II.  200).  — S’  avevano  astutamente  insino 
allora  lasciata  libera  la  facoltk  di  fare  il  contrario  (II.  224). 

Accusative  Case:  — 

Si  la  morte  non  si  fosse  interposta  a’  consigli  suoi  (I.  18).  — Non  si  sarebbe 
per  avventura  la  pace  d’  Italia  perturbata  (I.  26).  — Desideroso  di  ricorreggere 

89 


6o 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


quel  che  ...  s’  era  fatto  (I.  29).  — Nel  qual  modo  si  erano  altre  volte  abboc- 
cati  insieme  (II.  333). — II  quale  quella  mattina  s’  era  unito  con  Ercole,  fu  morto 
(III.  94).  — E se  ne  s^rebbero  fuggiti  molti  piu  (IV.  270)'. 

Dative  Case  with  Essere : — 

Quando  ben  si  facessero  poi*  effetti  molto  maggiori  di  quegli  che  gli  uomini 
prima  si  erano  promessi  (III.  68).  — Si  erano  promessi  molto  prima  la  vittoria 
degl’  inimici  (IV.  226). 

Thus  we  see  that  in  the  first  four  books  of  the  Istoria 
cT  Italia  we  find  two  instances  that  make  an  exception  to 
the  dative  case  rule. 

Torquato  Tasso. 


Dative  Case  : — 

Ne  trattane  colei  ch’  alia  partita 

Scelta  s’  avea  compagna Gerusalemma,  lib.  VI.  9 

Le  belle  arme  si  cinge  e soppravvesta 

Nuova  ed  strania  di  color  s’  ha  presa XVIII.  1 1 

E insanguinati  1’  aquila  gli  artigli 

E ’1  rostro  s’  abbia XX.  113 

Accusative  Case  : — 

Che  s’  e d’  Egitto  il  Re  gia  posto  in  via Gerusalemma,  lib.  1.  67 

Gia  1’  aura  messaggiera  erasi  desta III. 

Recato  s’  era  in  atto  di  battaglia 

Gia  la  guerriera  III.  26 

S’  erano  all’  alte  mura  avvicinati III.  33 

Del  suo  avaro  pensier  non  m’  era  avvisto V.  48 

S’  era  del  lor  partir  Goffredo  accorto V.  85 

Mentre  con  tal  valor  s’  erano  strette 

L’  audaci  schiere XI.  41 

A suoi  liberator  s’  era  condutto  XX.  6 


( Aminta .) 


Accusative  Case  : — 

Poi  che  s’  e posto  in  uso  il  grano  e 1’  uva Atto  I.  Sc.  I. 

Ahi ! che  s’  e certo  ucciso III.  I, 

Che  s’  era  tutto  abbandonato IV.  II. 

io  che  m’  era  nascoso  , III.  I. 

Accusative  Case  with  Avere  : — 

Per  uccider  se  stesso  e s’  avra  ucciso IV.  I. 


This  is  the  last  exception  I found  in  Italian  to  the  rule 
given  for  the  accusative  case.  And  in  this  particular  in- 

90 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  61 

stance  the  auxiliary  avere  must  have  been  used  to  suit  the 
metre. 

From  the  time  of  Beccaria  on,  the  use  of  avere  as  auxiliary 
of  reflexive  verbs  must  have  been  mostly  confined  to  popular 
usage,  and  avoided  by  writers  as  being  inelegant ; for  not  a 
single  instance  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  Beccaria,  Goldoni, 
Silvio  Pelico,  Ugo  Foscolo,  Manzoni,  Cantu,  etc. 

Beccaria. 

Dative  Case  : — 

Si  e riserbato  a se  solo  il  diritto  di  essere  legislatore  e giudice  nel  medesimo 
tempore  (Dei  delitti  e delle  pene). 

Accusative  Case:  — 

Per  sostenere  questa  vana  metafora  molte  vittime  si  sono  sacrificate  (VIII.). 
— Alcune  societa  si  sieno  astenute  dal  dare  la  morte  (XV.).  — Gli  uomini  si  siano 
voluti  assoggettare  ai  minori  (XIX.). 

Ugo  Foscolo. 

Dative  Case  : — 

Mi  sono  assai  volte  dimenticato  il  mio  Linneo  sopri  i sedili  del  giardino 
(Jacopo  Ortis,  36).  — Una  lunga  treccia  di  capelli  che  Teresa,  alcuni  giorni 
prima  delle  sue  nozze  s’  era  tagliati  senza  che  . . . (no).  — S’  era  piantato  un 
pugnale  sotto  la  mammella  sinistra  ( 1 1 7) . — Ma  se  1’  era  cavato  dalla  ferita,  e gli 
era  caduto  a terra  ( 1 1 7) . — Poi  non  potendo  ne  volendo  ritrarla  egli  solo  delle 
rapine  e degli  incendj,  si  contento  si  farsi  consigliero  de’  capi  che  la  moltitudine 
s’  era  eletti,  e s’  armo  con  essi  (Commentario  Pol.  III.  XV.). 


Manzoni. 

In  the  remaining  quotations  I shall  only  mention  reflexive 
verbs  accompanied  with  a pronoun  in  the  dative  case,  and 
show  that  they  take  the  auxiliary  essere  as  well  as  when  ac- 
companied with  a pronoun  in  the  accusative  : — 

Dative  Case  : — 

Cosi  dicendo,  s’  era  levata  la  chiave  di  tasca  e andava  ad  aprire  (i  Promessi 
Sposi,  II.  22).  — Ah!  gli  disse  poi  vi  siete  perd  fatto  tagliare  il  ciuffo  (III.  31). 
— Come  un  materialone  dopo  essersi  cacciata  in  bocca  stoppa  (III.  33).  — Le 
donne  nella  sua  assenza  dopo  essersi  tristamente  levate  il  vestito  delle  feste 
e messo  quello  del  giorno  di  lavoro  (III.  34).  — Non  lasciava  mai  sfuggire  un’ 
occasione  d’  esercitarne  due  altre  che  s’  era  imposti  da  se  (IV.  49).  — Ma  non  c’ 

91 


62 


J.  A.  Fontaine , 


era  quell’  allegria  che  la  vista  del  desinare  suol  pur  dare  a chi  se  i’  e meritato  con 
la  fatica  (VI.  70).  — Cosi  impegnandosi  a ogni  delitto  che  gli  venisse  comandato, 
colui  si  era  assicurata  1’  impunita  del  prime  (VII.  81).  — Dopo  aver  sofferto  ed 
essersi  morse  le  labbra  un  pezzo  (X.  136). — Un  piccol  sentiero  indicava  che  altri 
passeggieri  s’  eran.  fatta  una  strada  ne’  campi  (XI.  48).  — Quando  Renzo  si  fu 
levato  il  farsetto  (XV.  290).  — Facendo  tutta  via  litigar  le  dita  co’  bottom  de’  panni 
che  non  s’  era  ancor  potuto  levare  (XV.  190).  — Si  trovava  ancora  indosso  quegli 
stessi  vestiti  que  s’  era  messi  per  andare  a nozze  in  quattro  salti  (XVII.  215). 
— E proprio  del  vestro  paese  quello  che  se  1’  e battuta  per  non  essere  impiccato 
(XVIII.  229).. — S’  e fatto  scrupulo  di  darle  una  briga  di  piu  (XVIII.  236).  — ma 
appena  partito  costui  sentendo  scemare  quella  fermezza  che  s’  era  comandata  per 
promettere  (XX.  253).  — L’  innominato  penso  subito  a rispondere  a questa  che  s’ 
era  fatta  lui  stesso  (XXI.  269).  — Dopo  essersi  cacciate  le  mani  ne’  capelli  (XXIV. 
306).  — E di  paragonarlo  con  1’  idea  che  da  longo  tempo  s’  eran  fatta  del  perso- 
naggio  (XXIV.  309).  — Si  mille  volte  se  n’  eran  fatti  beffe,  non  era  gia  (XXIV. 
314).  — L’  avrebbe  preteso  e se  ne  sarebbe  fatto  render  conto  (XXV.  317). — 
Della  fllosofia  naturale  s’  era  fatto  piu  un  passa  tempo  che  . . . (XXVII.  348). — 
Questo  aveva  sempre  continuato  a far  cio  che  ...  s’  era  proposto  (XXIX.  376).  — 
Nessuno  scrittore  d’  epoca  posteriore  s’  e proposto  d’  esaminare  (XXXI.  389.). — 
Andasser  facendo  di  quegli  atti  che  s’  erano  figurati  che  dovessero  fare  gli  untari 
(XXII.  413).  — S’  eran  promesse  di  non  uscir  dal  lazzaretto  (XXXVI.  470). 


Cesare  Cantu. 

Ora  mangiavano  di  quel  che  s’  erano  preparato  (Margherita  Pusterla,  I.  6).  — 
Sotto  i piedi  dei  destrieri  s’  era  per  alcuni  minuti  vista  la  morte  ad  un  pelo  (II. 
22).  — Margherita  erasi  recato  in  mano  un  libriccino  (III.  38).  — Franciscolo  . . . 
si  era  assunta  la  esibita  ambasceria  a Mastino  (IV.  58).' — non  mostrava  d’  averli 
in  quel  conto  ch’  e’  s’  erano  ripromesso  (V.  80). — Onde  erasi  formato  un  modo 
proprio  di  vederle  (V.  83).  — E s’  era  fatto  premura  di  recarli  quella  sera  a Mar- 
gherita (V.  82).  — II  cui  padre  lavorando  s’  era  acquistato  pel  paese  un  triste  nome 
(VIII.  144).  — i soldati  eransi  tolta  in  mezzo  la  Margherita  (IX.  160).  — Ma  s’ 
erano  lasciato  fuggire  Franciscolo  (XIII.  221).  — Per  riparare  la  quale  erasi  cavato 
la  giubba  (XII.  223).  — Quivi  entrando  Luchino,  sebbene  gia  si  fosse  messa  in- 
torno  al  cuore  la  calcolata  freddezza  (XX.  365).  - — E due  gran  mustacchi  che  s’ 
era  acconci  (conclusione). 

Nuova  Antologia  ( Volume  48). 

Arrigo  il  Savio. 

E quando  mi  ha  scritto  che  aveva  bisogno  di  me,  si  figuri,  mi  sono  augurato 
u-n  bel  paio  d’  ali  (478).  — Guasti  pur  troppo  la  bella  immagine  che  io  m’  era  for- 
mata  dell’  amor  tuo  (494).  — Il  conte  Guido  non  si  era  proposto  di  andare  (Vol. 
49.  98). — Te  lo  diro  un’  altra  volta  quando  mi  saro  formato  una  vera  certezza 
intorno  a certe  cose  (233). 


92 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  63 

Vita  e avventure  di  Riccardo  Joanna  { Volume  52). 

Riccardo  si  era  annodato  dietro  la  nuca,  con  molta  disinvoltura  il  tovagliolo 
bianco  (690). 


Dalla  culla  alia  tomba  {Volume  54). 


Gli  uomini  s’  eran  presi  un  pezzo  di  crescia  sotto  al  braccio  (460).  — S’  eran 
messo  1’  abito  piu  bello  benche  non  dovesse  accompagnare  il  battesinio  (467). 


Montegu  {Volume  46). 


Egli  in  vece  si  era  dato  ogni  premura  per  soddisfare  a tutte  le  richieste  di  danaro 
che  gli  venivan  fatte  (89).  — Il  rincrescimento  di  dover  rinunciare  a un  tratto  alia 
fama  di  giovinetto  elegante  e alia  moda  ch’  egli  s’  era  conquistata  (276).  — Chi 
avrebbe  avuto  fiducia  in  un  uomo  che  s’  era  mangiato  il  suo  (280).  — E che  per 
conto  mio  me  ne  sarei  lavate  le  mani  (460).  — Piena  di  freddo,  sebbene  si  fosse 
tirate  le  coltri  fin  quasi  sopra  il  capo  (463).  — Anche  quella  volta  s’  era  preso  i 
guanti  e il  cappello  (469).  — Il  tenente  Aschieri  per  aver  detto  cio,  s’  era  presa  una 
sciaftolata  (479).  — Bianca  si  era  creata  un  mondo  a parte  (651).  — Parendo  le 
oramai  di  esserselo  guadagnato  il  suo  Leonardo  (Vol.  47,  296).  — La  tutta  Milano 
si  era  dato  convegno  alia  corte  d’  assise  (87). 


Scuola  nor  male  feminile  ( Volume  49). 


L’  alunna  sedette  soddisfatta  perche  almeno  il  suo  zero  se  1’  era  quadagnato. 


IV.  Auxiliaries  with  Reflexive  Verbs  in  Spanish. 

In  the  earliest  documents  of  the  Spanish  language  reflexive 
verbs  are  found  conjugated  with  the  auxiliaries  ser  and  haber. 


El  Libro  de  los  Reyes  d’  Orient. 

Ser  . . Estos  reyes  complieron  sus  mandados 

E son  se  tornados 


46 


Vida  de  Santa  Maria  Egipciaca. 


Haber  . Quando  desto  te  avras  partido 
Nos  te  daremos  buen  marido. 


Romancero  del  Cid. 


Ser  . . E de  el  me  soy  escapado  . 
Haber  . Y de  secreto  se  ha  ido  . . 


66 

7 


93 


64 

J.  A.  Fontaine , 

Libre  d'  Appolonio. 

Ser  . . 

Ancoraron  las  naves  in  ribera  del  puerto 

Encendieron  su  fuego  que  se  les  era  muerto 

00 

w-> 

Ser  . . 

Los  que  solia  tener  por  amigos  leyales 

Torftados  se  le  son  enemigos  mortales  

• • 59 

Poema  de  Alexandro  Magno. 

Ser  . . 

Sennor  dixo  1 griego  tengo  me  por  tu  pagado 

Quando  vassallo  tuyo  me  soe  tornado 

ro 

00 

Ser  . . 

Cuemo  sabial  falso  que  se  fues  arrancado 

. • 152 

Ser  . . 

Que  se  se  fusse  ende  estovies  bien  recaudada 

Era  se  ya  tornado  

La  Estoria  de  Senor  Sant  Millan. 

Ser  . . 

Que  se  era  probado  por  sancto  muy  complido 

. . 322 

Milagros  de  nuestra  Senor  a. 

* 

Ser  . . 

Mucho  mas  li  valiera  si  se  fuesse  quedado 

• • 73i 

Cronica  del  Rey  don  Alfonso. 

In  this  cronica  reflexive  verbs  are  conjugated  with  haber , 

except 

in  the  two  following  cases  : — 

Ser  . . 

E que  dejase  los  arrayaces  porque  el  oviese  dellos  emienda 

E cobrase  la  tierra  con  que  se  le  eran  alzados 

. . 16 

Ser  . . 

E el  era  se  ido  dfinde  a le  facer  guerra  de  los  castillos  . . 

. . 76 

Hurtado  de  Mendoza. 

All  the  reflexive  verbs  take  the  auxiliary  haber  in  this 
author. 

Haber  . Que  de  mi  y de  ellos  se  habia  ido 85 

Don  Quixote. 

I have  found  only  one  instance  of  a reflexive  verb  conju- 
gated with  ser. 

Compare  : — 

Ya  se  es  ido  el  caballero  (XXI.  1 1 7) . 

La  demas  gente  de  casa  toda  se  habia  ido  a comer. 

94 


Use  of  Auxiliary  Verbs  in  Romance  Languages.  65 

Don  Quixote  is  the  last  work  in  which  any  trace  of  a 
reflexive  verb  conjugated  with  the  auxiliary  ser  is  to  be 
found. 

V.  Auxiliaries  with  Reflexive  Verbs  in  Portuguese. 

In  leading  such  old  Portuguese  texts  as  were  obtainable,  I 
found  only  doubtful  cases  of  reflexive  verbs  having  ser  in 
their  compound  tenses.  Haver  is  the  auxiliary  met  with 
in  Hardung’s  Romanceiro  and  other  Portuguese  texts. 

Cf.  A el-rei  se  ha  queixado  (Romanceiro,  123). 

VI.  Auxiliaries  with  Reflexive  Verbs  in  Provencal. 

The  verbal  system  of  the  Provencal  follows  very  closely 
that  of  the  French.  In  Le  Moine  de  Montaudon,  Pierre 
Vidal,  Bertrand  de  Born,  Roman  de  Flamenca,  I found  the 
auxiliary  esser  always  used  to  conjugate  the  compound  tenses 
of  reflexive  verbs. 

Compare  Le  Moine  de  Montaudon. 

Qu’ieu  m’en  sui  tant  defendutz  e loignatz. 

For  de  mon  cor  que  s’es  en  vos  mudatz. 

Que  de  drut  s’es  tornatz  maritz. 

Pierre  Vidal. 

De  chantar  m’era  laissatz. 

Bertrand  de  Born. 

Quand  lo  reis  Richartz  s’en  fou  passatz  outra  mar. 

Dizon  que  trop  me  sui  cochatz. 

Roman  de  Flamenca. 

Et  al  rei  si  son  presentat 

E quan  si  fou  agenolhatz. 

Roman  de  Jaufre. 

El  reis  es  se  meravillatz. 

Cant  la  vi  pueis  es  se  seinatz. 

E Jaufres  s’es  apareillatz. 

S’en  es  vengutz  a Melian. 

95 


66 


J.  A.  Fontaine. 


Gerard  de  Rossil/on. 

S’en  es  issiht  lo  como  de  grand  iror. 


Chronique  des  Albigeois . 

Car  lo  due  de  Bergonha  s’en  es  ladoncs  crozat. 
Que  el  cap  des  castel  se  son  tuit  amagatz. 

E s’es  vengutz  a Roma. 

Lo  reis  P.  d’Arago  felos  s’en  es  tornatz. 

Roman  de  Fierabras. 

Devas  Contastinoble  s’es  lo  rey  regardatz. 

Ab  aquestas  paraulas  lo  rey  s’en  es  intratz. 

Mireio. 


En-lio  jamai  s’es  plus  fa  veire I.  42 

S’ei  roustido  lou  comi  e la  cara  au  souleu II.  58 

. . . Un  trau 

S’ero  fa  de  l’emboucaduro II.  64 


The  lack  both  of  proper  texts  and  time  makes  it  necessary 
to  end  here  the  investigation  of  the  use  of  the  Auxiliary 
Verbs  in  the  Romance  languages.  Should  this  article  be 
found  of  any  use  or  interest  to  the  student  of  Romance  com- 
parative grammar,  it  is  the  intention  of  the  writer  to  complete 
it  by  further  examination  in  the  Wallachian,  Catalan,  Rhato- 
romonsch,  and  other  minor  Romance  dialects. 

96 


